Will Attention Lead to Action?

It's been said this is potentially the most important cartoon of the year. It definitely captured my attention, but will "attention" lead to "action"?

Cartoon by Steve Breen, San Diego Tribune, October 18, 2009

Technorati tags: sbreen cartoon, will attention lead to action?

men and muppets

maybe you remember big bird, cookie monster and elmo. maybe you were a fan of bert and ernie, grover, or oscar the grouch. maybe you could sing along with that theme song (go ahead, you know you want to).

today is the 40th birthday of the tv show "sesame street." it first showed on nov10, 1969 and has been on tv ever since. the show was based on an "unproven" and "revolutionary" idea for it's time; the use of television as an educational tool. could children learn through tv? it would help kids learn shapes, colors, basic math and word recognition. each show was built around short segments to hold kids' attention. they would use fast-moving action, humor, and music to engage children. they intentionally set it in an inner-city set with a multi-racial cast to appeal to a diverse audience they would pre-screen episodes to test educational effectiveness on kids.

they also did something else that was particularly ground breaking. the show paired animation, muppets, and live actors together. they would have a blend of fluffy monsters and caring adults. it was this colliding of different worlds that brought all the learning moments together for kids.

i think there's something for us to learn in that concept. these seemingly different worlds, muppets and live actors,
coming together. some would say it's just an illusion on the tv screen, that they're really not different worlds. because the puppeteers just duck below the tv cameras and be off-screen with the real actors.

and that's the thing. they're not different worlds.

too often people will try to separate different aspects of their life.

i'm "this" person at home but i'm "this" person at school. i act "this" way around one set of friends but i act differently around another set of people. certain values and convictions are important in "this" area of my life but i can compromise all that for convenience in "this" area of my life.

we can't live in different worlds.

james wrote, "can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs?" the obvious answer is no. he's saying there's a need for consistency in our lives.

Jesus said, "you can't worship two gods at once. loving one god, you'll end up hating the other. adoration of one feeds contempt for the other."

we can't honor God with one part of our life and dishonor Him in other areas. God made us to be one person. to live with integrity.

ask God to show you where the "different worlds" of your life need to come together. where do you need to be "this" person that God created you to be in ALL areas of your life? pray that God would show you where there's "fresh water and salt water" in your life. pray that God would help you to live with integrity, honoring him with your whole life.

Technorati tags: sesame street, there's a monster at the end of this blog post

I told you there was a monster at the end of this blog post.

A Quote for Friday

"Patience has its limits. Take it too far, and it's cowardice."

George Jackson

Technorati tags: gjackson, just ask that one guy from that kenny rogers song

priorities

i've been thinking a bit about life and death lately. sounds dark and morbid, i know, but it's not really.

i've just been thinking about, compared to eternity, how short our lives are. and how relatively short our time on earth is. and how quickly time passes. and how once it's gone, you can't get it back. and if there's much purpose to our time here. and if we spend our time on stuff that really matters.

here's a thought: one hundred years from now, chances are everybody you know will not be here anymore.

one hundred years from now, chances are you won't be here anymore.

so, as cool as it is to have things like a nice car, in the bigger picture, how important is that? and is it worth all the stress and fuss we make about it sometimes? or what about the clothes we wear? or our hair cut? (or baldness...) or so many of the things we stress out about...

are they THAT important in the bigger picture?

serena williams, the tennis star, lost the u.s. open because she blew up at a line judge. there's drama because kanye interrupted taylor's big moment (which was kind of a jerk thing to do). everyday people yell and give certain hand gestures because they were cut off in traffic. we laugh when someone tells a joke at someone's expense. we have a melt down when mom or dad says no. we compromise our convictions for convenience.

so what is important?

continue to ask God to help you live with a bigger picture in mind. ask God to show you what's truly important, what our priorities really should be. pray that God would align your heart with His, that we would seek first "His kingdom and righteousness" and trust Him that so many of those other things we worry about will be taken care of.

Technorati tags: problems look different from inside a casket

Halloween 09

Some Halloween Fun...

Technorati tags: happy halloween

Twitterific!

My favorite Tweets from October:

The Helpful/Thoughtful

• johncmaxwell Spectacular achievement comes from unspectacular preparation.
• stevenfurtick My joy is not determined by what happens TO me But what Christ is doing IN me and THROUGH me. #joygenome
• johncmaxwell Successful people make right decisions early & manage those decisions daily.
• DougFields "Life without labeling others isn't possible, the problem is labeling too quick and holding on too long." (via Matt McGill) #fb
• hotdogsladies Useful advice is rarely relaxing.
• stevenfurtick Figuring out how God is going to do His job isn't in your job description. Your roles & responsibilities: trust & obey.
• daviddonnan "Others determine your reputation, but only you determine your integrity" - Tony Dungy in Uncommon. #fb
• hotdogsladies I can't prove reading books makes you smarter, but there's compelling anecdotal evidence for what happens when you don't.
• RickWarren Balance ur preaching:“Edification,Exhortation & Comfort”1Cor.14:3 BUILD UP(doctrinal)FIRE UP(motivational)HOLD UP(pastoral)
• RickWarren It's HOW u live,not HOW LONG that matters; the donation of ur life,not the duration. U choose 2waste, spend,or invest time

The Funny

• hotdogsladies High school by our house appears to have replaced Phys. Ed. with KFC Famous Bowls and Rhianna videos.
• jepeay Does Twitter have a mailing address that people can mail their tweets to? If not, that's discriminating against the Amish and Alaskans.
• jepeay Toasters are being used less and less these days...which is why Poptarts should change their name to Spinaroundinthemicrowavetarts.

Find me @joshburnham.

Technorati tags: sweet tweets

A Quote for Friday

"Nothing you do for children is ever wasted. They seem not to notice us, hovering, averting our eyes, and they seldom offer thanks, but what we do for them is never wasted."

Garrison Keillor

Technorati tags: gkeillor, even beg-o-ween