Archive for the ‘Christianity’ Category

Review: “Hearing God” by Dallas Willard

Posted: April 9, 2013 in Book review, Christianity
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Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God by Dallas Willard. Intervarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL (2012).

My father attended church only occasionally, but he had a unique, personal relationship with God. His best time to commune with God was when he was tending his garden. He believed that one’s relationship with God was a personal, private thing, and that having an institution tell him how and when he should worship God was just wrong.

Maybe that’s why I feel the way I do about devotional books. My attitude is that another author can tell me what works in their devotional life, but they shouldn’t make general statements about what works for all people. I also have a problem with theologians who seem to have God all figured out. If one looks at Biblical history, every time mankind has thought they knew what God had planned, He up and surprised them.

All that being said, I did appreciate Dallas Willard’s book, Hearing God. I received it as a gift when school started–I think it was two years ago–and because I have been curious about what others had to say about communicating with God, I decided to use it for my devotional book. For the past two months I have been reading it in the mornings, digesting a couple of pages, then closing the book and meditating over what I had just read. I think Willard has some really good things to say. In addition to his own thoughts, he draws from other authors, evangelists, pastors and theologians, some of which he actually disagrees with. The only bad part of this for me was that he gets a little deep into splitting hairs over theology, something that other theologians might be concerned about, but not me.

For me, it’s all about the daily walk with God, the ability to express myself and hear God’s response. It’s about knowing that I am doing God’s will, or if I am not, knowing it is God who is telling me I need to change my path. And that’s in here. Here’s an example from page 138-139:

“Nowhere is it more important to be in a conversational relationship with God than in our prayer life. Often God does not give us what we ask for, but I believe that he will always answer, always respond to us in some way….When a request is denied, does this then mean that there has been no response? Some people say that God’s silence is an answer in these cases. But I think that if we know how to listen, God will normally tell us something when he does not give us our requests. We will hear it and grow through it if we have learned to recognize and acknowledge his voice.”

There’s a lot of positive to be gleaned from this book. I recommend it to any reader who is concerned about whether God is talking to them, and how to go about hearing Him better.

Doors and Windows

Posted: March 22, 2013 in Christianity, creativity, Writing
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“When the Lord closes a door, He opens a window.”  –Author Unknown

In 1970, I was high school junior in northern California. I was privileged to be invited to be a member of an elite drama group from our high school. But in order to join, I had to resign from the elite choir, which I had been in for the past two years. I was asked on Friday, and was told I had the weekend to decide.

It wasn’t an easy decision for me. I loved drama, having participated in several plays and skits during the year. And, from my perspective, I was pretty good. But I also loved music. To switch from music to drama would not only affect my activities for my senior year, it would change my circle of friends. I deliberated over it all weekend, and in the end decided to remain in choir.

I grew up believing that decisions like that have a long-lasting affect on our lives. Sometimes they do, and sometimes they don’t. In this case, I think it did. I committed myself to music, and eventually started writing music. Most of those who studied drama ended up going to the same college in southern California. I went to a college in northern California with a friend from choir, where I ended up meeting my future wife. I spent a lot of time in music in the years and decades to come, and never regretted it. Even now, when I have put the guitar down and stopped singing publicly, I am proud of what I did and look back fondly on those years.

We all have decisions to make in our lives. And in the end, they define who we are. But that doesn’t mean there is only one right decision. In the end, there are only three major decisions we have to make:

1. Will I follow God?

2. Who will I marry?

3. What livelihood will I pursue?

And in this day and age, only decisions one and two are really that important. People today often change their careers several times during their years before retirement. And today, even retirement is simply a change in careers. Whom you marry should be a lifelong decision, and of course, the decision to follow God should be made early and kept until our eyes close in death–and even after.

So what’s the point of this blog? The point is, whatever we choose, wherever we are in life, we can choose to follow God and speak out in His behalf. And that’s what’s important. It’s not how we do it; it’s simply a matter of doing it. I enjoyed my years in music, and during that time I sang and wrote music that praised God. Now I praise God in a different way. God gave me a gift of music, and I used it when I was at that stage of my life. I have had several people who knew me during my singing years tell me that I HAD to get back to singing. But that’s not me anymore. I have made a commitment to writing, and for now, that’s who I am.

So don’t be afraid to change paths, step out doors, or climb out windows. In the end, God really doesn’t care what you do, or how you choose to do it. What matters is that you do it for Him.

 

Review: “Divergent” by Veronica Roth

Posted: March 11, 2013 in book marketing, Christian novels, Christianity, creativity, Religion, Writing
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Apparently I CAN walk and chew gum at the same time.

This weekend I was pleased to not only complete reading a great new book but also complete writing a great new book.

First, the one I read:

51MyTJ6IWPL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_I first heard about Divergent by Veronica Roth in Rough Writers, our creative writing group on campus. One of our student writers, I don’t remember which one (Cassandra), told me that not only was it a great book, but that it had Christian overtones. Being both the skeptic and the Christian suspense writer that I am, I had to read it. Rather than buying an ebook, which I am prone to do because of my cheapskate nature, I invested a few more dollars and got a copy of the paperback. I’m glad I did, because it is definitely a book I will want to loan out.

Cassandra was right; it does have Christian overtones, but they are very light. It’s more like the story revisits Christian principles that the main character learned growing up.

To fully understand, you have to hear the basic premise. After a big war, society decided the best way to keep the peace was to divide the population into five factions. Candor is that faction who believes in always telling the truth, no matter what. Amity is the group that believes in peace no matter what. Abnegation believes in self-sacrifice and putting others first. Erudite believes that knowledge is the key to peace, and the Dauntless faction believes that courage is the key to peace. At age 16, young people are tested for aptitude and recommendations are given them as to which faction they belong in. The next day, they participate in a Choosing Ceremony, where they publicly announce which faction they belong to. The term Divergent comes when a person shows an aptitude that qualifies them for several factions at the same time.

The main character, Beatrice Prior, is raised in the Abnegation faction, one that wears only grey, dresses modestly and never draws attention to themselves (sound familiar, Christians?). They live to serve others, always the ones to clean up when there is a mess. Because of their self-denial, they are also the people in power in the government. That causes some jealousy, and some fireworks fly as time goes on (the second book is called Insurgent, so you get an idea of where this goes). Beatrice tests as a Divergent, and so must choose between three factions. Her decision completely changes her life, and like dominoes, affects those around her.

You can probably see the parallels in this story and Hunger Games, and I found myself comparing several times. But there are differences too. At first I thought there was going to be a love triangle, but it ends up being more a matter of unrequited love than a triangle. Also, the story is set in a dystopian future Chicago, and having lived there, that piqued my interest. There’s lot of action as well as romance, although I found it refreshing that the suggestion of sex is there, as well as sexual attraction, without completely going there. I always believe the anticipation is more effective than the actual event, in books at least. That makes is a good young adult book, I think.

I also found it interesting that Veronica Roth wrote this book while she was a college student, which should give some of you students (Tiffany and Cassandra, I mean you) reason to hope.

All it all, I found it a great YA book, one that I know a lot of people are latching onto.

* * *

Infinity coverAnd now, on to my project. I finished the rough draft of Infinity’s Reach yesterday at about noon. The last three chapters went a lot easier than I had anticipated. That always scares me a bit, and I find myself wondering if I have missed anything when that happens. But apparently I didn’t. I will know for sure by the end of this week.

For those of you just coming onboard, Infinity’s Reach is the retelling of Pilgrim’s Progress, set in a dystopian United States after a nuclear attack and invasion by an Asian coalition army. Teenager Infinity Richards is given the challenge of crossing the U.S. to join her father in Camp Zion, which is somewhere in the West.

HotdogsMy biggest challenge was balancing faithfulness to the original Pilgrim’s Progress, Christian themes and a science-fiction story, and I found at the end that I did a pretty good job of that. This week I will focus on plausibility, continuity, and grammar issues before I begin formatting pages.

I am just as eager as you are to finally see this in print, and I was tempted to launch early. But after thinking about it, I am going to stick to my April 1 launch date, just to make sure that everything is ready for the launch.

* * *

Last but not least, I have to include my photo for the contest. This time, Pedro at the local hot dog shop here in Cleburne decided to help me out. As usual, contest rules are here. Make sure you get your entry in for a free paperback copy of Infinity’s Reach. Winners will be announced beginning next Monday!

Have a great Spring Break week!

 

 

 

The Last Mile

Posted: March 10, 2013 in Christian novels, Christianity, Science Fiction, Writing
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My goal for today is simple: finish the last two chapters of Infinity’s Reach.

I got a lot done on Friday. I added some material in the early chapters that I felt was missing, I finished up chapter 27 and I wrote chapter 28. Now the end is in sight.

This is the exciting–and scary–part. Exciting because I can see the finish line not too far ahead. Scary because it’s hard not to doubt your own ability to go out with a bang.

Time will tell.

See you on the other side….

A Fresh Perspective

Posted: March 6, 2013 in Christianity, fear, Religion
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Spring Break is just around the corner. But in order to get there, I have to get past a mountain of obligations. I am determined to not spend spring break working on school stuff. I have committed it to finishing up Infinity’s Reach. And so I find myself spending long hours during the week, and even weekends trying to get caught up.

I am sure you can commiserate. Everyone has been there–nose to the grindstone and shoulder to the wheel. You do that long enough and you get so all you can see is your work and nothing else, which is really depressing.

This morning I headed into work early. When I got out of my car outside my office, I heard a familiar Tat-a-tat-a-Tat. I looked up on a utility pole to see a red-headed woodpecker up there, oblivious to everything but his perennial job of drilling holes and looking for grubs. Immediately I stopped thinking about my job and started thinking about his. That got me to thinking about a particular mockingbird–the Texas state bird, mind you–who greets me every morning with a cheerful song. I think he–or she–has a nest near my office, because I see him/her every day.

And then I thought back to one of the darkest days of my life, back in 1973. I had been studying for most of a year to pass a test while I was a student in Austria. Out of 12 students who took the test, I was one of two who didn’t pass. After committing so much to a project, I was devastated. I walked away from the administration building where I was in school, praying that God would help lighten my burden and help me understand. Even though I was lost in my thoughts and didn’t pay attention to where I was going, my footsteps took me out to a pasture where I had gone to pray many late nights. And suddenly I stopped. There, not 20 feet away from me, was a beautiful deer. We stood looking at each other for quite a while before she slowly walked away.

There was no direct answer why I hadn’t passed this test for which I had studied so hard. But God’s answer was clear: don’t worry about it. Life is a lot more than just tests, or projects, or jobs. When we are dead and gone, people won’t remember us for a test we passed, or a book we got published. Those who really care about us will remember us for who we were. And that’s God’s bottom line.

Life is meant to be lived day by day. And that’s all God gives us, one day at a time.

So who are we to squander it, worrying about tomorrow?

The Devil’s Plan

Posted: February 9, 2013 in angels, Christian novels, Christianity, demons
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What I am sharing here is the new prologue for my Christian suspense series The Champion Trilogy, which will be coming out in May.

THE DEVIL’S PLAN

It might have been the boardroom of any modern high rise, complete with a walnut table, swivel chairs, and an impressive view of the cityscape. But it wasn’t located in any city on earth, there were no doors to enter the room, and the view was of a historical event that many on earth would consider the turning point in earth’s history.

This room was located in the spiritual realm, a dimension that exists parallel to the physical plane that mortals call The Universe. And even though the one at the end of the table looked like he would be at home in front of any modern board meeting, he was not human. When one looked at the other three beings in the room, that became obvious.

“Impressive,” a woman/being said, as she stood by the large windows looking down on the spectacle before them. “No, that’s not the word. Flawless. His plan was flawless.” The four of them watched as four Roman soldiers collapsed beneath the crush of light flowing from two beings that descended from the sky. One stood surveying the scene, while the other walked quickly over to a large boulder that covered the entrance to a cave. The angel rolled away the boulder and entered the cave. A moment later, the angel reappeared. With him was a man—no, a God—who reflected the light that the other two beings put off.

“Shut it,” the Chairman at the end of the table said. “I’ve seen enough. We’ve all seen enough.” In response, the panorama disappeared and the wall became just another wall.

The woman turned away and faced the other three. “You know, it’s just not fair. He took on mortal form, He became a man, and He died as all men do. They why didn’t He stay dead?”

“Yes,” a dark, formless shape said, who sat next to the Chairman. “I’ve said from the beginning that God didn’t play fair. He let His son intervene, become a man. You would think we could pervert Him the same way we did everyone else on earth, but…”

“But we lost,” the fourth being said, who took the form of a hulking, scaled creature with green skin and red eyes on the opposite end of the table. The Chairman looked up with those words, and the demon flinched. Then the Chairman smiled slightly.

“Relax,” he said. “You’re not saying anything than what we are all thinking. I brought you three here because in all of Damnation I trust you to speak your minds.” The Chairman stared at each of the three beings in turn—the formless shape, the woman, the demon—before he spoke again.

“I realize that we have lost the war,” he said. “God has come up with a way out for man. There is nothing we can do about that. The question is, what do we do now? Do we sit on our hands and wait for Jesus to return and for it all to be over? I think not.”

He paused and waited for the others to respond. Finally, the demon spoke.

“We have an advantage that God doesn’t have. Numbers. A few believe in Him, but many millions don’t.”

“Or at least they don’t follow Him,” the woman said. “Remember the days when we had as many people worshipping us as He did?”

“So we make them worship us again,” the formless shape said. “We offer them the same thing we did the first time. I can offer them power beyond imagining. There are few men who will turn away from that kind of power.”

“And I have lust on my side,” the woman said. “Lust always works.”

“And I will feed their hatred and revenge,” the demon said.

The Chairman stared at his lieutenants thoughtfully, before finally nodding.

“Then it’s decided. In the end, we are just as mortal as man. But while God will save a few, we will corrupt and destroy the rest of them. That is the best way to hurt Him. While many worship what you represent, most will come to believe that the existence of God is a myth.”

The woman spoke up. “But if they think He is a myth, won’t they think that you don’t exist either?”

The Chairman smiled broadly this time.

“Exactly.”

The Great Disconnect

Posted: February 5, 2013 in Christianity, creativity, Writing
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For about a month, we have been noticing that our DSL internet has been getting slower and slower. Over the weekend, it came to a screeching halt. When I called ATT yesterday, I got a tech support recording that tried to walk me through the repair process. The recording and I together came to the conclusion that there was a faulty connection somewhere along the line. I inspected the line that ran from our phone plug in inside through the wall and alongside the outside of the house to the phone junction box outside. Sure enough, something–probably a mouse–had chewed the insulation off the outside of the wire in one place on our back porch. It’s not the first time that has happened. Twice before we ran the line through our attic and the wires were chewed completely in two. Apparently we don’t feed our vermin enough–or maybe too much.

But I decided to put on my Mr. Fixit hat and repair the line myself. The hard part, I knew, would be running the line through the wall. So the first thing I tried to do was patch the line. I worked on that for about an hour. That didn’t work. Then I decided to rerun the line. By this time it was getting dark. I found some old Cat 3 phone line and started over. Running the line through the wall went a lot easier than I anticipated. I then hooked the line to the phone plug in inside and then ran the line to the junction box. I checked the router. No signal. I double checked the wiring: the junction box called for red, green, black and yellow wires, as did the plug in inside. My line had brown, blue, orange and green wires. I checked and double checked the connections both inside and out, but was unsuccessful in getting the router to work.

So last night we went without internet. It’s become so much a part of our lives that we assume we are always connected. We couldn’t check our bank balance, Skype our kids, check our email or Facebook or Twitter, and so on. It’s a hassle that I hope to rectify very quickly.

What’s funny about it is that the Great Disconnect that was such a hassle last night became more of a blessing this morning. I wasn’t interested in connecting. Instead, I sought disconnect from the world as I went through my devotions, meditated and tried to get centered before the day started. Because the downside of having instant connection to everything is that it is hard to disconnect from the world. As a Christian, that’s important to me. Because in order to have Jesus in my heart, and contemplate the sacrifice He has made for me and what that means to my daily life, I have to get the other trivial stuff out of my brain that constantly bombards me.

What’s scary to me is that young people often can’t envision a life of disconnect. I teach a class called Interpersonal Communication, and I ask students to consider going camping for a weekend without cell phones, radio, or any other electronic device. Many say that that would be dangerous. My response is, What did we do before we had cell phones? How is it more dangerous now?

There’s a place for the internet, cell phones and social networks in the lives of writers. There’s a place for solitude as well. In fact, the biggest challenge I have as a writer is not lack of time, but lack of mental concentration. When I can give myself permission to not think of the thousands of other obligations in my life, then I can do some amazing things.

It’s just getting there that’s the challenge.

Status Quo

Posted: January 30, 2013 in Christianity, Religion
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photoIf you live anywhere in the Midwest, especially in Oklahoma or maybe Kansas, you know that some powerful weather came through yesterday. We got hit about 4 p.m. with winds that they estimate topped 70 mph. I went outside my office and took some photos of the clouds, which looked like they were ready to drop a tornado on us.

I got home after dark. About 12:30 my wife and I were awakened by our three dogs barking ferociously. After some investigating I found out what was upsetting them: a 10-foot section of our privacy fence around our back yard had blown down, turning our backyard and our neighbor’s backyard into the same yard.

It took quite a while to settle the dogs down. In fact, we had to take the little one into our bed before she would shut up. And then, about half an hour after that, she started up again. Eventually, I ended up sleeping in a chair in our living room to keep the dogs quiet.

Our three dogs are with us for companionship, but also for protection. And in a lot of cases, they act just like humans do in similar circumstances. They like the status quo; they don’t like it when unexpected things happen to them. If they intentionally step out of their comfort zone and do something different, that’s ok. But most of the time they get agitated when a surprise comes up in their lives.

How many of us feel the same way? We have this belief that we are in control of our lives, and when circumstances remind us that we are not, we get excited. Upset. Agitated.

Well folks, I’ve got news for you. As I mentioned in a blog a while back, control is an illusion. The only One who is in control is God. That goes for you too, Satan. You’re not in control. Only God is.

Trouble is, God is also a strong believer in the power of choice. We aren’t predestined. We can choose to live or die. We can choose to follow God or not follow God.

As for those daily surprises that remind us that we’re not in control, consider this: “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” Matthew 10: 29-31

As soon as it got light this morning, my wife went out to fix the fence. As we started to lift the panel back into place, a pigmy goat, a billy, came charging out of the neighbors yard. He was smaller than either of my two big dogs, but apparently he was what was causing such a panic with my three dogs the night before. It took some doing, but we convinced him to go back to his yard.

We are afraid of losing control. We are afraid of surprises–at least the unpleasant kind. And when things appear to challenge us–even something as small as a pigmy goat–we sometimes come unglued. What we need to remember is that we were never in control in the first place.

Someone much wiser, stronger and more caring is. And I am grateful.

I apologize. OK, maybe not.

Posted: January 15, 2013 in Christian novels, Christianity, Criticism, Religion, Writing
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Back in the late 90s, when I was a book editor at at Seventh-day Adventist publishing house, I had two friends who wrote a couple of books about how the world was going to end. One of them had his office right across from mine, and shared his work as he was writing it. As I read his work, I didn’t say anything, but thought to myself, “I could write this.”

About the same time, I got into a theological discussion with another editor, who happened to be a former Seventh-day Adventist pastor. I offhand made the comment that, “If Jesus were to come tomorrow….” to which he promptly responded, “Jesus can’t come tomorrow. There are specific signs and events that we know are going to happen, and it would take at least six months for these things to unfold.” To that I responded, “Who are you to tell Jesus what He can and can’t do?” All along through the Bible, people thought they had God all figured out, only to have Him surprise them in one way or another.

ITC small fileAnd so I got the idea of writing ANOTHER end time book. I say ANOTHER, because my denomination is kind of weird in that respect. There are many who don’t believe in reading fiction at all, fiction being defined as anything that didn’t actually happen. The cardinal exception to that is, of course, end-time books. As you can imagine with a name like Seventh-day ADVENTISTS, most of our identity is tied up either the Seventh-day Sabbath (Saturday) or the Second Coming of Jesus Christ (the Second Advent). And so even the traditionalists cut authors like me a little slack when it comes to telling a futuristic story like my book, If Tomorrow Comes. When I took this writing project on, I wanted to be faithful to the events that my church believes regarding last-day events, and yet interpret them in a way that people would not expect. And so I wrote my book.

It was published in 2000, was held in great acclaim by many people, loved by kids, and yet very few people bought it. Two years after it came out, the publishing house decided to take it out of print.

And so when I started my self publishing endeavor with Prevail Publications last year, one of the first projects I made available was a rewritten edition of If Tomorrow Comes. The original was published through a Seventh-day Adventist publishing house and sold through Adventist Book Centers; the new edition was made available through Amazon. I didn’t explain, I didn’t apologize; I didn’t hedge my bets. I just put it out there.

And it is actually doing quite well. In six months as an e-book, it has sold well and received more comments on Amazon than it ever did with the original printing. Many are very positive; some are not. Here’s an example of one of the critical ones:

“The book is well written and has an engaging story line,.. however the author makes assumptions that there is only one denomination and one way to worship that sets Christians apart and provides pleasure to God. The majority of this book seems to revolve around whether or not one chooses to worship on Saturday or Sunday,.. if you worship on Sunday,.. you are going to Hell. While the author is holding strong to his own doctrinal beliefs according to his own denomination, I find it short sighted, divisive and without substance. Christianity is not about a specific denomination, theology or dogma,.. it is about following what is put forth biblically and I believe the type of division that denominations and the understandings of man do far more to divide the church and limit God than it does to recognize His omnipotence, His mercy, His love and works against the Church Jesus envisioned as being one.

“Due to this I give the book 2 stars and will avoid this author in the future.” –Randy

I’m sorry Randy felt that my writing was “short sighted, divisive and without substance.” His is one viewpoint, and there are many others who disagree with him. But he is entitled to his point of view, just as I, as the author, am entitled to mine. I didn’t intend to deceive anyone. All I did was tell a story based on my view of what might happen in the last days of Earth’s history.

I have read my share of books that I have disagreed with, and I never felt like I was deceived, just because the author saw things differently than I did. Unfortunately, I find too often in Christian churches that we get defensive if someone expresses a belief that’s different than our own.

And so I thought long and hard about how I should react to his comments, and a few others. And my final conclusion is this:

Thanks for buying my book. Thanks for reading it. I am sorry I don’t believe the same way you do.

OK, maybe I’m not. But have a nice day anyway.

Beyond Pushing Buttons

Posted: December 7, 2012 in Christian novels, Christianity, Stories, Writing
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One of the things I am trying to accomplish with this blog is to challenge myself to a new level of “honest” writing, something my friend and colleague Tim Lale recommended to me a few years. While I continue to contemplate what true honesty is in relation to writing, I am reminded of a story that I think I have shared with you already at least once.

In 1972, I was a 18 year old in college outside Braunau, Austria. We had Saturdays and Tuesdays off, and one Tuesday I rode the train to Munich and visited the Museum of Science and Technology there. The massive building was filled with floor after floor of displays, demonstrating every discipline under the umbrella of science. I met another guy my age there, and we flirted with girls, made fun of guards, and did the usual things you would expect of 18 year olds. Finally we ended up in the physics wing of the university. Row after row of displays stood before us, each one calling for us to push a button and see how a pulley worked, or a lever swung, or what a gear did. And so we went from display to display pushing the buttons to watch each demonstration. After about 45 minutes of this, we turned and looked at each other and laughed. We realized that there were so many demonstrations that we had focused on finishing rather than learning. We would push button after button without looking behind the glass to see what pushing the button did.

I usually use this as an example of what our daily lives do to us. We focus on getting through the day, only to face another day, without thinking about why. And as Christians were aren’t exempt from this. I was very active with my church when I lived in Idaho years ago, and it was easy to stay focused on getting tasks done without remembering why we were doing the tasks to begin with.

When I left my job at Pacific Press in Idaho after 10 years as an editor there, the tradition was that they would send you off with an opportunity to make a last comment. And the temptation was to get back and someone or something after all of those years of labor. But I found myself at a loss for words. And so I simply said, “Remember that it’s about people.” And that’s what we need to remember as well. Sin is about selfishness. The opposite of that applies as well. Godliness is about putting others first.

We all get caught up with surviving day to day, and we forget why we are surviving in the first place. We writers focus on writing the best novel or best story or best poem ever, but we seldom stop to ask the question, Why. Why do we do what we do? Are we called to be writers? And if we are, doesn’t that instill us some sort of obligation to someone other than ourselves?

Deep thoughts, I know. But now that classes are out, and at least one of my major projects is behind me, I can afford to take the time and think those deep thoughts.

I don’t mind pushing buttons once in a while. In fact, I do it quite often. But it helps to remind ourselves why we are doing what we are doing.

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