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Any person who has created something of worth has stories of pain, of late nights, juggled debts, headaches that leave you grinding your palms into your temples wondering why you’re doing this. Just recently, my wife and I started a business together. Building a business is like planting the tiniest seed and holding an umbrella for years over the slowly growing sapling because there’s always a thunderstorm crashing right above your head. Creating and protecting the space for something to grow requires a lot from those who want to see the fruit. I’m not saying it’s not worth it. I’m saying that it’s hard. Every entrepreneur knows that building a business requires sacrifice, much as any artist knows the price of creating anything worthwhile.

Who we are born to and with is not our decision. Whether our parents were rich or poor, educated or not, these were not options we selected on a tablet while we were riding in the stork’s handkerchief. We are born in the middle of a group of strangers who are immediately responsible for us, and we are ultimately responsible to them.

Today’s blog feature is a special request of mine of my colleague and faithful leader in The Collaborative, Crosland Stuart. I was honored to attend the funeral of her father, Bill Stuart, this past week in Bartow, Florida, at the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. Her well written, carefully constructed reflection on her father’s life moved me, and I know will do the same for you.

Management guru Peter Drucker famously said, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Drucker’s insight applies equally well to contemporary American culture grappling with issues of human life and death. Legal strategies seeking to influence our practices around life and its beginning, death and its end, and the many gray complexities in between, will always be eaten for breakfast by the American culture.

Any time a new initiative is started there can be confusion as to how it fits in with the whole, especially if the initiative is multi-faceted, and The Collaborative is no exception. While our branding, communication efforts, and public events have been helpful, understanding each aspect can still be a bit fuzzy, particularly in these early years and given the large constituency that is First Presbyterian Church Orlando. This week’s blog is designed to provide some clarity with regards to The Heart of the City Fellows Program. We were featured in this blog that was written by the The Fellows Institute, which is the governing entity for Fellows programs nationwide.

Some people dread this day, others are depressed by it, and still others feel burdened by the obligation to get it right. One trend I am loving is this idea that Valentines is  no longer necessarily an evening in a dark corner of a restaurant with the love of your life. Rather many are broadening the circle and seeing it is an opportunity to celebrate friends and family.

We need art. We need art to remind us of the grandeur of gifts that people possess, to remind us that our imaginations need to be stoked, and to remind us that beauty helps recalibrate our being.

I’m generally not one for new years resolutions. If, however, any of my evangelical friends were to ask what I’d recommend, I’d suggest three. 1) Recognize an important milestone likely to happen in 2019. 2) Recognize what this milestone means. 3) Recognize that doing more of what we’re already doing is not a solution.

At the beginning of this week we, as a nation, celebrated MLK Day. While not everyone received a day off, it would be hard to miss that much of our country was moving to a different rhythm this past Monday.  It is curious to me how a variation, even a seemingly insignificant one (like a day off), can prove to be a positive disruptor. These positive disruptors can manifest themselves in a myriad of ways, something out of the ordinary.

Of all the human responses to God in the Bible, I relate to Moses’ response the most. There are those people whom God calls and without hesitation they say, “Okay, I got this, use me.”  I wish.

But no, like Moses, my response is, “You want me to do what now?”