Archive for October 2009
In Memory of T.O. Chamberlin
Those phone calls at 4:28am are always important. Suzy Chamberlin Ward called my cell phone to tell us that her father, Jennifer’s uncle, my father-in-law Jack’s brother passed away a few minutes earlier.
Tom, or T.O., as he was affectionately called, had been having health issues for some time now and his weakened body could not withstand a bout with pneumonia.
At nearly 90 he is the first of the four Chamberlin boys to pass away. Long histories and amazing stories will be told in the coming days about T.O. and everyone who knew him will have something good to say about his amazing life.
When Suzy called I said, “Oh Suzy… I am so sorry.” To which she replied, “Its okay.”
Yes, it is “Okay” in just about every way… nevertheless we grieve and experience sadness.
Life is an amazing and incredible gift. As you send your prayers and good thoughts to the Chamberlin family today embrace your own gift of life, give thanks, and live it to the fullest extent. In doing so you honor God, the giver of life, and for Christians, the giver of new life in Jesus Christ, and you honor our loved ones who have passed from this life.
We give thanks for the gift of Tom Chamberlin’s life.
I love you—Bryan Martin
Can God Speak To People Through A TV Commercial For A Smart Phone Using An Old Beatle’s Tune During Monday Night Football?
As I was enjoying Monday night NFL a commercial for a Blackberry smart phone came on playing an old Beatle’s tune, “All You Need Is Love.” I can’t imagine what the song has to do with owning a Blackberry, perhaps it is the fact that a cell phone is now an essential tool for meaningful relationships…I don’t know…but the song moves me… and I thought…
“Can God speak to people through a TV commercial for a smart phone using an old Beatle’s tune during Monday Night football?”
Is anything impossible for God?
Then I remembered the old Bible story about when God used a talking ass (read donkey) to save the life of a prophet (can you name that prophet?), which prompted memories of the youth group leader who quipped “See…God can use any ass.” I digress.
How will God speak to you today? Through a donkey? An old Beatle’s song? In the scriptures? When a friend calls you on your Blackberry? In the stillness of a moment? Through this blog?
For your benefit I include the lyrics of that old tune… and I pray that you will hear God’s voice speaking works of wisdom and love, to your heart today.
Wow what a great game that was!
All You Need Is Love
The Beatles
Lennon/McCartney
There’s nothing you can do that can’t be done. Nothing you can sing that can’t be sung. Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game It’s easy.
There’s nothing you can make that can’t be made. No one you can save that can’t be saved. Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you in time – It’s easy.
All you need is love, ……
There’s nothing you can know that isn’t known. Nothing you can see that isn’t shown. Nowhere you can be that isn’t where you’re meant to be. It’s easy.
All you need is love, all you need is love, All you need is love, love, love is all you need. All you need is love (all together now) All you need is love (everybody) All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
I love you – Bryan Martin… “All Together Now…”
Empowering people is so easy, fun and rewarding in multiple ways.
My first empowering experience came after many years of trying to help couples communicate. I was teaching a complicated communication cybernetic feedback loop that I learned in graduate school to couples in marriage counseling. It flopped big time! It was just too complicated and time consuming for couples who had urgent needs to get back on track with each other.
Then I discovered the value of little things, or more formally called “minimal encouragers”… you know… thing like kind words, a love pat, leaving romantic notes… there must be a million “little” things that people can do for each other and in the process make communication more positive, friendly and encouraging.
It takes me all of five minutes to explain the concept, three minutes to model it, two minutes to teach the scripts, and one minute to role play and presto… my student has mastered the concept, feels good about it, see the benefit of it, has experience doing it successfully and now has learned a process that will make a positive impact and all their future relationships for a life time.
Talk about the joy of empowering people! Empowering people really is easy and fun.
Another major empowering experience is teaching real estate agents what to say while lead generating, and in listing appointments. The biggest fear real estate agents have is not knowing what to say in specific situations. But guess what… it is easy to empower them too. It is just a matter of learning a few scripts (it is not like learning the IRS tax code!), practicing them in role playing exercises (a really fun process), and monitoring their process with positive feed back. And guess what… it really works.
Today you will have multiple opportunities empower people with simple processes; how to deal with stress, relaxation techniques, copy machine operations, website maneuvering, parenting tips, marriage tips, tutorials on human behavior and spiritual wisdom.
You may even have the opportunity to pray with and for someone… which is super easy and a great way to empower people. Jennifer often uses the brief “Well…God bless you” interjection…which most people don’t hear every day but has a powerful effect.
My point is this: take advantage of the teachable moments you encounter today. Use them as life giving opportunities, and empower another with the gifts or expertise you have. And you know the gifts you have.
I love you — Bryan
What is the Likelihood of That Happening?
Your lost pet returning home three years later.
Finding the wedding ring you lost in the Kern River in 1986.
Winning the Lottery.
Fitting into your wedding dress again.
Running into your best high school friend at Cafe Du Monde in New Orleans.
Walking again after your legs being blown by a road side bomb.
Being struck by lightening… and surviving.
Being born.
A camel passing through the eye of a needle.
Having control of your life.
Changing someone who doesn’t want to change.
Having a great day.
Making a real difference in the world.
Being satisfied with never being satisfied with the status quo.
Being the person God dreams of you being.
What is the likelihood of that happening?
I love you- Bryan Martin
Overcoming Negativity at Work
Edwin Friedman observed many years ago that disruptions in a system, like a business, or organization, were likely due to stress endured by individual who brought that stress into the system. For instance, chronic or acute illness, or marital distress in a family would cause one family member to act out in a related system, like at work. In fact it is common that those who exude negativity at work have problems at home. They bring their negative to work and express it there, often with critical comments, undermining processes, and causing emotional disruption.
Frequently this negative transmission of negativity is not recognized. Sometime the problems at home abate and the negative at work or the organization stops. Other times the negativity ends when the affected individual is fired or moves on. Sometimes the negativity escalates in the system and disrupts the leadership causing upheaval and leadership change…but the negativity persist.
For spiritual people the discovery of negativity in systems forces us to identify the real problem, i.e. the affected individual, and love them back to health. But this is very difficult and requires great finesse. Most frequently it is fairly simple to identify the affect individual just by the constant presence of negativity, critical remarks and contemptuous comments. For me I recognize that these are merely symptoms, model love and kindness, and inquire about the underlying cause (the illness, marital discord, financial problems, etc.) and pray with and for them with love.
I’m sharing this with you because there is a lot of stress in our world. The economy has fomented a storm of negativity that is swirling about. Stress is weakening immune systems and there is a lot of illness. All this effects relationships causing discord.
You may be the affected one and just not aware about how much it is bearing down on you. Or, and this is most likely, you know of people around you who are creating the kind of negativity I am describing. Pray for them. Be supportive and understanding. Don’t let their negativity influence you, but with love resolve to support and encourage them.
I know this is challenging, some people seem to live in perpetual turmoil. But the only way to help them is to love them.
The bottom line is this: love your neighbor even when they exude negativity… they need it.
I love you- Bryan Martin.
Is the Devil in the DNA?
Gender selection is already occurring. Harvest a few ovum, fertilize them in a Petri dish, let them grow four or five cells, pull one cell out and you can determine the gender of the child. If it is your choice implant it in the mom and nine months later you have a health baby of the gender of your choice.
Now let’s crank it up. Take a common genetic disease, like Huntington’s Disease, a terrible disorder that destroys life but doesn’t usually show up until adulthood. It is a crippling awful disorder that makes you wonder if there is a loving God and if there is why would he allow such a disease to exist? More than that, children of victims have a 50% chance of getting the disease. But they have isolated the DNA. So now they can harvest the ovum, fertilize them in a Petri dish, let them grow four or five cells, pull once cell out and determine if that embryo has Huntington’s Disease.
Now let’s crank it up even more. Certain DNA contributes to intelligence and others to strength. Now we hypothetically have the ability to create children who are super smart or super strong. We can, in effect, create a new strain of humans.
How do we make decisions about these things? Is this the Devil’s play ground for controlling human destiny or is the hand of God helping people evolve to new levels of life? On the one hand we can cure disease and lengthen life (I think a Godly thing) and on the other hand we can manipulate human engineering (I think it has the potential for Evil).
Is it the Devil or is it the Lord?
The worst thing we can do is nothing. “Oh well… it doesn’t really matter for me… I’m sure THEY will figure it out.” Doing nothing is the least Godly response. It is like sticking your head in the sand.
THE FUTURE OF OUR PROGENY IS IN OUR HANDS! WE MUST HELP THEM.
But how?
We must ask this question: What is God doing here?
The famous mistake that Job made was to accept the status quo as God’s mandate. “The Lord gives, the Lord takes away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” What he failed to do was to grow in his knowledge of God and what God was doing in the world…. just like what most people do today.
Here is the point: Whether it is DNA, World politics, or your personal health issues we must constantly be seeking what God is doing in the world. I can tell you this… God is not done working in our lives! To think other wise is to give in to the Devil.
Jesus said it like this, “Seek first the Kingdom of God…” Most people stopped seeking a long time ago.
If we are going to be Godly people in an every changing, fast changing world, we have to be constantly seeking.
Don’t be fatalists; seek God in everything, in the DNA and in every common experience. God is there, looking to be found, desiring the connection, wanting you to learn evermore about life, love and God.
I love you – Bryan
What Is So Ordinary About Water?
Water is almost everywhere. Most of the Earth is covered with it. Yet it is the most precious valuable element we have, even more valuable than diamonds or gold, for without it there would be no life. It is also a powerful spiritual symbol.
In the creation story water is there. During the cleansing of the Earth in the story of Noah water covers and cleanses the Earth. We speak of the waters of birth. One of the symbols for the Holy Spirit is water. Christians are cleansed in the waters of baptism and filled with the Holy Spirit.
I remember an advertisement for beer that spoke of the clear clean water that the beer was made of.
Water is also the focus of legal battles. A friend of mine is an attorney who deals solely with water issues. A major TV News talk show host recently came to our county to showcase the water problems we have.
Water is a life or death issue for many third world countries. A local church sent teams and money to help bring water to a village that had none.
Polluted water is the cause of sickness and death for thousand of children world wide. They need pure water.
With global warming water is rising and threatening some island nations.
Water is a big deal.
Here is a spiritual exercise for you. Every time you use water pause and give thanks for the girt of water… every drink, washing, flushing, every cup of coffee, green yard… give thanks for the water and pray… pray that those who don’t have enough will get some.
What water is to the Earth, love is to the soul. Love is everywhere, yet some love is polluted, some people die from a lack of it, attorneys are used in its dissolution, TV programs always contain a love scene, Love is everywhere.
Love is the most precious spiritual element on the Earth. It is essential for human well-being. Our progeny depend on our love for their existence. Love is the soul’s water.
Here is another spiritual exercise for you. Every time you love give thanks for the gift of it… every greeting, every kiss and embrace, every time you see another person give thanks for love and pray… pray that those who don’t have enough will get some.
We can’t live long without water and love. They are the most precious elements. Let us let both water and love flow through our hearts to our world today.
I love you– Bryan
