Skip to main content

Leaving San Antonio, Words from the Boss


Headed home, picked up a copy of Rolling Stone with Bruce Springsteen on the cover. There is an EXCELLENT article with the Boss. He's now 58 and is starting to look back. He ends the article talking about his life and what's really important. His words were poignant to me (and perhaps those in ministry / non-profit worlds).
Q. What did you learn (after stepping back and changing scenery for 10 years)?
A. I guess life outside of work. This is a very satisfying life work, but it's a part of your overall life. How do you have relationships? How do you commit to things that are forever? How do you break all the old habits, or some of them?

I had to work on it (changing) the way that I had to work on playing the guitar when I first started - many , many hours and a lot of intense devotion. I realized that some people may come to that naturally, but I was someone that was going to have to learn it, because my instincts were wrong.

(speaking about connection to family and friends - stability, continuity and connection)

You got to have the whole picture at this point. You need the fullness of life. Without that, it's an exercise. You don't wan the things that you're writing and singing about to remain an abstraction to yourself. I always like the scene at the end of The Searchers: John Wayne brings the girl back home, but he can't enter the house himself. Very tragic.
When I read this I thought about my life and ministry. I'm trying to help the poor, share the love of Christ, but am I experiencing the fullness of life that the Kingdom of God offers? Many time those of us in ministry are some of the loneliness. We wrap ourselves in purpose, vision and the Call. But in the end, we lose balance and what is good and right become more 'flesh' than 'Spirit'.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

YWAMers Praised for Faith and Leadership

The Denver Post reports on the memorial service at the Denver YWAM base: "We're going to celebrate a life, we're not accentuating a death," said Faith Bible Chapel pastor George Morrison, in opening a memorial service today for two people killed at a missionary training school in Arvada . The service is called "A Celebration of Life for Tiffany and Philip." Philip Crouse and Tiffany Johnson died Sunday when a gunman opened fire at the school's dormitory. Youth With a Mission director Peter Warren said today both Crouse and Johnson embodied the spirit of the group. First the service focused on Crouse . "Phil gave his life to Jesus Christ and was never the same again," said Zach, a friend of Johnson's who met him years ago at a youth ministry in Alaska. At the time, Crouse was tough and wouldn't let people get close to him. "Over the years, Phil became a humble, teachable, sweet guy" who was able to reach kids with rough e...
Post a Comment
Read more

Book: White Man's Burden - thoughts for Labor Day Weekend

I'm reading a fascinating book that has some of the same themes that run through Bob Lupton's recent writing. It's called 'White Man's Burden" by William Easterly. (I get the feeling some of you have read this already.) You can find it here. The title of the book is somewhat unfortunate, it's meant to be sarcastic. There are some amazing points here, stuff NCUD and others at CCDA have been talking about for years. I encourage you to check it out - here's a couple of great excepts from the first chapter: "But I and many other like-minded people keep trying, not to abandon aid to the poor, but to make sure it reaches them. Rich countries have to address the second tragedy if they are going to make any progress on the first tragedy. Otherwise, the current wave of enthusiasm for addressing world poverty will repeat the cycle of its predecessors: idealism, high expectations, disappointing results, cynical backlash." "Let’s call the advocates...
2 comments
Read more

Big Gifts, Tax Breaks and a Debate on Charity

New York Times Article on the debate regarding the societal benefits of non profit donations. It's a somewhat rambling article, but my feeling is that this is a brewing debate. Eli Broad, a billionaire businessman, has given away more than $650 million over the last five years, to Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to establish a medical research institute, to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and to programs to improve the administration of urban schools and public education."What smart entrepreneurial philanthropists and their foundations do is get greater value for how they invest their money than if the government were doing it." "I got a plaque in the mail and an invitation to an awards ceremony. I never gave them another nickel. What were they spending money on plaques for?" The rich are giving more to charity than ever, but people like Mr. Broad are not the only ones footing the bill for such generosity. For every three dollars the...
1 comment
Read more