A Most Difficult Prayer

Several years ago I began saying a prayer during daily mass called “The Litany of Humility” composed by Merry Cardinal del Val, secretary of state to Pope Saint Pius X. It was at a time when I was experiencing career changes, with responsibilities that seemed narrower in scope.

I began praying it out of a hope it would help in dealing with the changes more positively. After awhile, however, it seemed to be causing me greater anxiety as the prayer’s petitions were being realized, i.e. being excluded, overlooked, etc. This was disconcerting when success is clearly defined as being sought out and consulted more frequently. As a result, I stopped saying the prayer for some time since it seemed to make my attitude more negative.

So what was the lesson?

It’s becoming a familiar one in these posts – I was trying to outthink God and make judgments based on how the world judges, not how God judges.

After a time, I went back to the prayer and it became clear to me that it was really about a release from the desire for being preferred and approved. And that was exactly what had happened. As my yearning for these things decreased in answer to the prayer, I grew in using other talents with a greater intention of helping others and more focus on daily spiritual life. Realize that none of this was me; this was God answering the prayer.

I now pray the litany much more frequently with a sense of wonder and a realization that I have no clue what will come of it, other than that through surrendering and getting out of God’s way, his will can become more manifest.

Click on this link for the prayer, but realize that you may be in for a challenging time.

Blessings,

Mike

"Why Am I Here?" - Washington, D.C. Edition

WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 10, 2008) – I haven’t written directly here or in my strategy blog about “core purpose.” Not surprisingly, it’s top of mind for me as we sit in an airplane waiting to take off amid a violent thunderstorm on the runway at Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C.

Today was a presentation on strategic thinking to a very small audience at the ASMI Branding Excellence Conference. Shortly after arrival on Monday night, I became very ill - the same kind of illness that put me in the hospital overnight in Cleveland a couple of years ago through flu-related dehydration. I was incredibly blessed then to be traveling with Keith Prather, my strategic partner, who was truly the Good Samaritan. He stayed with me in Cleveland while his wife and daughters had to drive to Oklahoma for a dance competition by themselves.

Since then, my parents ask me on nearly every trip I take whether Keith will be along. I always assure them I don’t need Keith to travel with me and that the hospital stay was a fluke. Until last night.

Since that time two years ago, I travel much differently with a lot more meds and a realization that I’m not invincible. So without Keith as God’s representative, I have to depend on God’s intervention through other means, including my loving wife and our neighbor back in Kansas City. Of course, God provides, even to the point of the meeting planner offering to let me skip doing the presentation.

But God didn’t bring me here to not do the presentation; this is where my core purpose comes in. Despite having my regrets during the day about making the trip, my core purpose would say that there was someone in the audience that I needed to reach. The thing is I don’t know who it was, although I have my suspicions. Having said that, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it were someone else that I hadn’t even talked with directly. That would be God’s way, and who am I to try to outthink God, since he provides the core purpose in the first place.

And now, we’re #1 for take off. God bless us.

Blessings,
Mike

P.S. We made it back, although we were more than 90 minutes late. Thankfully, our neighbor took my wife to the airport so that she could drive me home. She was a true sweetheart and waited the extra time because I couldn’t have gotten myself home that night. Thank God.

Poor in Spirit

I never understood what “poor in spirit” meant until an adult religious education class several years ago. And then my understanding was really enhanced last week by listening to a radio show on the Beatitudes.

The question the host asked was in what areas we consciously choose to be poor - even if we’re not materially poor? Where do we do with less, or do without as a reminder of our dependence on God providing for us.

That’s a challenging question for those in my area where we live and work amid some of the wealthiest zip codes in the state and country. There’s such a cultural pressure for bigger and more. As a marketer, there’s a clear bias to sell more and get more for it. And a variety of stigmas are associated with anything that's “less.”

Let’s all ask - what are we willing to sacrifice that’s truly meaningful to us?

Blessings,

Mike

A Creativity Prayer - Take 1

Lord,
Thank you for creation itself and the incredible gifts and talents you so generously entrust to me. May I recognize and appreciate these talents, always recognizing that they come from you and remain yours. Guide me in using them for the benefit of everyone that I touch, so that they may be more aware of your creative presence and develop the creativity entrusted to them for the good of others. Help me also to use your talents to bring a creative spark and new possibilities to your world, living out my call to be an integral part of your creative force. Amen

You Write About It, and Then It Happens!

The day after last week’s post about faith and trusting God’s hand in your life, I was running late for a flight, and got out of my normal routine going through security (i.e., a routine that gives me a sense of control).

After grabbing a sandwich, I stopped just short of the gate area at the end of the concourse (#1) to stuff it in my backpack and noticed my computer was missing. Panicked, I started running down the long concourse at full speed to get back to security, thinking I’d forgotten to pick it up since it was the last item through x-ray.

As I neared the airport chapel off to my right (#2), it dawned on me that I’d stopped after security in a different place and re-sorted all of my things, placing the computer on a ledge in front of an airport restaurant. Changing direction toward the restaurant (#3), the computer was amazingly still sitting on the ledge in full view exactly where it was left.

God was watching out for me – no big surprise! At least I realized right then that it was while I was passing the chapel that the computer’s location popped back in my memory!

Blessings,
Mike

Going to Extremes - St. Philip Neri

You Gotta Have Faith

Advance notice – I’m not a theologian. And I don’t play one on TV, although I do watch a lot of them. This is just me thinking…

One measure of “faith” could be how readily we’re able to see God at work in your lives. It’s challenging to recognize it as things are happening, and may be only slightly less challenging after the fact. As an example, for years I had prayed for the return of my faith, even while I wasn’t sure there was value in the prayer itself. My prayers (and those of others) were answered beyond my wildest expectations. Yet it took almost two years to have the a-ha moment where I connected the incredible gift with the prayers. Arghhhhhh!

To have the grace to anticipate, depend on, and surrender to God’s hand in your life before the fact may indicate the faith of a future saint. Suffice it to say that I (and probably most of us) have what seems like an insurmountable way to go.

While I’ve become a little more faithful in some areas, it seems they’re pretty insignificant. At least now on some small annoyances (i.e., needing to copy a file from an uncooperative computer before leaving for work) my frustration may be overcome by a sense that “there’s a reason for this.” Invariably something will happen so that the task that seemed so urgent and tested my patience will be easily accomplished at the “right” time later that day.

What’s helped me get even this far is a prayer formally called the Suscipe composed by St. Ignatius Loyola. I call it the “surrender” prayer and try to say it multiple times daily, especially in quiet moments and those where it appears I’m trying to get in God’s way. I encourage you to consider praying it too. You’ll hear answers if you listen.

Last December amid many professional challenges that seemed overwhelming for my skills and strengths, I heard a message while exercising that was incredibly clear: “They aren’t your talents; they’re mine. Quit doubting them.” It was very true, as the specific challenges were resolved more beneficially than I could ever have imagined or purposely directed.

So now my prayer is that God will grace me with faith in the reassurance that there are talents so much greater than mine that are there to guide me, if only I will follow.

Blessings,

Mike

Promises, Promises

With this new blog, I promise to:

1. Not post every day.
2. Post at least once a week.
3. Be more spiritually oriented than in my other blogs.

There may be other promises to make, but that's a solid foundation.

This blog will based on material relevant to my "Aligning Your Life's Work" presentation.

It conveys the message that trying to get to "balance" in life is futile (at least it was for me); instead, it's better to figure out what is truly (read: eternally) important and devote yourself to aligning your life toward those things. Not a new concept, but one that's been tremendously powerful for me, as I've learned to surrender more of what "I want" and do more of what God wants to direct me to do.

Thanks for reading and being willing to check back on an irregular basis. To that end, I encourage you to sign up for the email feed in the upper left corner of the blog!

Blessings,

Mike