Skydiving: Learning About The Parachute

I finally picked up a copy of Richard Bolles' classic What Color Is Your Parachute? from the library. I must say, it's not at all what I expected. I had a vague misconception of it as retirement planning, as in 'golden parachute'. Turns out that's not what the book is at all!

Time is too short to do a review of the book now. I plan to periodically post here as I go through the Parachute Workbook, basically finding myself (which is really the point of this here journal).

First off, my ten Who Am I? answers and the common denominators:

1. I am a reproducing disciple of Christ.
2. I am a kid of the King.
3. I am husband to Tiffany.
4. I am a responsible adult.
5. I am a father.
6. I am a provider.
7. I am a respecter of people.
8. I am a planner. (and more than just an "urban planner")
9. I am a teacher.
10. I am a nerd.

The common themes that I see among these are:

• relationship with God
• following rules
• leading people to understanding
• long-term and/or eternal focus
• loving and helping people
• thinking before acting
• focus on the next generation
• peace of mind
• facts and details
• sense of control; order instead of chaos

In the context of a relationship with Christ, I obediently make disciples, teaching and showing them how to focus on future generations. I am deliberate, fact-focused, and precise so as to bring peaceful order out of chaos. I am a lover of people and emphasize relationships with an eye toward eternity.

----

The first step of the Parachute Flower is determining what values I want my life to serve. After coming up with a (incomplete) list of values, I used Bolles' prioritization grid (an online version can be found here) with the following top-five result:

1. Relationship with God - bringing more spirituality, more faith, more forgiveness, more love for God, more Biblical foundation into the world
2. Integrity - bringing more morality, more righteousness, more honesty into the world
3. Relationships with others - bringing more love and compassion, more fellowship into the world
4. A proper perspective of possessions - bringing into the world better stewardship of what we possess (with an emphasis on savings, simplicity, enough) as individuals, as neighbors, as communities (small and large), as nations
5. Intelligence - bringing into the world more knowledge, more Truth, and more clarity

As a result of my life, there will be

• a stronger focus on man's relationship with God and the Bible as the foundation of life;
• greater personal integrity as people learn to take responsibility for their actions; and
• a renewed interdependence on personal relationships as neighbors strive together to meet needs and achieve dreams.

More to come later.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

For those of you wondering about the source of the text in the sidebar, here it is:

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Cor. 4:16-18)

I don't remember when I first came across this piece of Scripture, but I included it on a previous blog, and it seems appropriate to soul-searching.

Reverse Evolution Compels Revolution

A recent article published in Newsweek highlighted a phenomenon noted around the world by wildlife researchers: as trophy animals (the ideal specimens of a type) are hunted for sport or food, those that remain are the "weak and scrawny." Essentially, the observation is that Darwin's 'survival of the fittest' gets perverted when a more cunning power (i.e., man) is added to the equation. Decades of "selective hunting - picking out individuals with the best horns or antlers" are resulting in changes to the species, as the less genetically-superior animals are left to propagate future generations. The worst danger is that the "losers tend not to be very good breeders, meaning that this demographic shift ultimately threatens the viability of a species."

I can see a parallel to the Christian life here. Someone told me once that if Satan is attacking you, you know you're doing something right. Satan is a cunning hunter, roving about in search of trophies, and he won't waste his time on a "weak and scrawny" specimen of a 'Christian'. (Besides, it's typically easier to round up and overcome the weak ones after the robust individuals are out of the way).

Are we losing our viability for future generations through the strong and mighty succumbing to the tactics of the Devil? Is our culture of tolerance and acceptance, coupled with the wearying effects of an increasingly busy life, resulting in strong Christians becoming easy fodder for Satan's hunting parties? Are Christians today "weak and scrawny" as a result of our paragons being attacked by Satan?

The call to you today is 1 Peter 5:8-9: "Be sober! Be on the alert! Your adversary the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour. Resist him, firm in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are being experienced by your brothers in the world." Stand up and become a target of the Devil, resisting him with all the armor of God and proving a strong example for future generations. We will prevail in the end; our God is bigger than any of the weapons of Satan.

Don't court the Devil, but be such a strong force for the right side that his resources can't help but to be diverted away from your weaker brothers and sisters; perhaps that will be just the respite they need to re-fasten their own armor and step up alongside you in the fight for the souls of the world.

Good Planning

I was asked yesterday about my philosophy of 'good planning'. For so long in my professional career, good planning has been a moving target based on whatever an individual client had expressed through their needs and desires. Consulting is a service industry -- while we are expected to contribute our professional expertise, ultimately the client pays and the client receives what is paid for.

That said, I've not given much thought to my own personal philosophy of what makes for good planning since sometime early on in grad school. The difficulty I find now is separating the basic concept from applications of that concept. To state that I follow the tenets of, say, Smart Growth or New Urbanism is to muddy the waters, I think (especially since applications of planning theory engender strong opinions).
I responded with something along the lines of the following:

Good planning means balancing the activities of daily life (living, working, recreating, shopping) with protection of the natural environment that allows a high quality of life to be maintained.

I'll revisit this more in the future. What do you think good planning means?