Poiema, work, seems so ordinary.
Everyday, common events performed
In service to life’s routines,
Production and generativity. Just work.
Poiema bakes a pie for a friend
And decorates the crust with scallops
As a touch of beauty and love
Experienced through the taste buds. Continue reading Poetry
A friend of mine recently asked me to speak to a local civic club about the value of public service. It’s a topic I feel particularly passionate about, so I said yes. Here are my top 5 reasons that everyone should find ways to serve his/her community.
Public Service (hereafter PS) is a small attempt to return some of the benefits of living in a village, town, or city. Regular garbage pickup, potable water, relatively crime free environments, orderly traffic, public schools, places to purchase items needed for life such as food or medical care, and entertainment venues are just a few of the many benefits of life in a community. The greater the involvement of the citizenry, the greater these benefits become. Continue reading My Top Five Reasons for Public Service
I don’t have an office.
Necessity required that I give up my bookshelf-lined office and half of my library in order to move to a new town as a church planter. A church “planter” does just that – plants or begins a new church. Church planting requires a change of context, new skills, and a new “audience.”
It also requires a new place to “office.” My new office happens to be coffee shops. One business writer calls this “going bedouin” as in moving from one place to another.
Continue reading The Top Five Reasons for Getting Rid of Your Office
Richard Florida wrote about the importance of the Arts in his best-seller-book, The Rise of the Creative Class. Florida writes that “The nation’s geographic center of gravity has shifted away from traditional industrial regions toward new axes of creativity and innovation.” Page 11.
Arts are important to cities that want to promote social and economic growth. People flow to the places where creativity and innovation exist, yet, ironically, the Arts are frequently what first get cut in stressed budgets. This has been evident in the national demise of arts programs in our schools despite the fact that they contribute positively to the educational experience. Continue reading The Importance of the Arts
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