While trouble in this life is inescapable, we can escape the crucible of excessive worry and anxiety. This is why Jesus said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Notice that Jesus said we could have peace in the midst of our troubles. God never promised us a life that was a “rose garden.” While I don’t endorse the entire worldview reflected in Lynn Anderson’s song, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (listen here) there is an element of truth in her lyrics: “I beg your pardon, I never promised you a rose garden. Along with the sunshine, there’s gotta be a little rain sometime.

Recording personal reflections is a discipline I have worked to develop over the years. I believe knowing where I’ve come from helps inform where and how I move forward.

This past year, I was blessed to pray for, plan, and oversee a multi-generational family dinner. I arrived early to provide ample time to speak with our server regarding the bill. I planned to cover the meal’s cost, and I wanted as little mention of it as possible not to take away from the dining experience. A final yet crucial consideration was getting my hands on a copy of the menu.

As I watched family members arrive and catch up, I couldn’t help but anticipate the evening ahead. My guidelines were simple: be present, share stories, order dessert first,

In the Summer of 2008, I attended the opening ceremonies for a new hockey arena named after my late father. The 1960s era “Teeder Kennedy Arena” was about to be replaced by a beautiful multi-purpose sports complex and I was there representing the Kennedy family.  As a highlight of the dedicatory programme, the master of ceremonies walked cautiously to centre of the rink and solemnly poured a bottle of water on the ice. His voice boomed through the state-of-the-art PA system, “This is an offering to the hockey gods!”

We continue slouching towards Gomorrah [emphasis added]. We are well along the road to the moral chaos that is the end of radical individualism and the tyranny that is the goal of radical egalitarianism. Modern liberalism has corrupted our culture across the board. The imperative question is whether there is any possibility of avoiding the condition of Gomorrah. What can halt or reverse the march of modern liberalism? What can keep us from reaching a servile condition punctuated by spasms of violence and eroticism?

We are no longer slouching towards Gomorrah. We have arrived.

Consider our moral decent as reflected in the two photographs below. The first shows a nation that is unashamed of its Christian heritage. The second depicts a nation rejecting that heritage and, in its place, the proud promotion of perversion.

The email popped up between meetings. I looked at the screen and began to read what one person thought about me in the most unpleasant terms. I put my phone down, and the weight of those words washed over me.

What was written in the email was a personal attack. It was an opinion (albeit unpleasant), and that’s all. I knew the harsh accusations weren’t true. But they hurt anyway. I picked up my phone and reread the email. I know, that was a mistake.

I once heard Chuck Swindell say Paul was a recovering people pleaser. Galatians 1:10 says it best as Paul asks, “Am I now seeking the favor of men or of God, or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.”

Paul knows who he is because of Whose he is.

When it comes to visions, I’ve noticed as people we have a tendency to get wrapped up in “all I can see is where we need to be just in the next few months…so that’s all I can focus on” thinking. We want the what to be clear.

Practically speaking, it works because if you can get those first questions or two out of your mouth, you establish a dialogue and can be making notes. Notes can be written in the notebook or on the iPad. If choosing to take notes on an iPad I simply remember to use my Apple pencil as an indicator to the other person I’m involved and engaged – the iPad is simply my note taking device.

Cruising at thirty-thousand feet and intensively absorbed in my work, I was startled by the sudden outburst of fearful crying from a three-year-old little girl frantically running down the aisle of the big jet. Her brown eyes were wide with fear, and her face was wet from the tears cascading down her cheeks. Somehow she had managed to leave her seat without her mother’s notice.

Disoriented and scared, she stumbled past row after row of strangers, unable to find her mother in the sea of unfamiliar faces. As a father of three daughters and the “pawpaw” of grandchildren, my heart went out to her. Although prudence dictated otherwise, I wanted to leap from my seat and pick her up to comfort her.

My heart also goes out to teachers and school leaders who, like that little girl, find themselves disoriented, perhaps intimidated and frightened by a strange and constantly changing world. Everything seems to be turned upside down politically, socially, morally, technologically, and economically. Nothing seems normal, in fact, normal is being redefined faster than we can absorb the changes.