Sunday, April 1, 2012

Change the World

Today in church Pastor Kenny gave a sermon called "The Gospel According to Steve Jobs".

I've missed the first 3 sermons in the series...the Gospel according to Oprah (I know you are flabbergasted I missed THAT one but I do plan to hear it on the web), Donald Trump, and Lady Gaga. Spring Break and a little vacation at Methodist Hospital kept me out of church these last few weeks.

So today was Steve Jobs...a man who truly changed the world.

I think he was brilliant and fascinating.

He changed how we communicate, how we watch movies, and how we listen to music.

It is not lost on me that right now I am typing this blog on my Mac, and I am listening to my iTunes library, and that I took my notes in church on my iPhone.

All thanks to Steve Jobs and his innovations.

Steve Jobs was once fired from his own company...isn't that incredible? They FIRED him.

If Steve Jobs can get fired from a company he started and built, well then who is safe?

He said being fired was the best thing that ever happened to him.

But it was what he did NEXT that made him the unique individual he was.

What he did next was to found NeXT...another computer company. Later he would integrate software technology from NeXT back into Apple when he rejoined the company. NeXT sorta failed (except for the software stuff) and he moved on to purchase The Graphics Group (which later became Pixar) from Lucasfilm.

Now many people may look at the technology that Jobs introduced to the world as the "smarts" he gave us.

But with Pixar he gave us some heart...

Movies like "Finding Nemo" and "Toy Story" are not only entertaining but heart warming as well. They are among my favorite movies of all time (along with "Cars" and "The Incredibles").

So there is my little tiny lesson in Steve Jobs...there is so much more to say but you don't come here for lessons in personalities...I THINK you come here to be entertained..and maybe something here sparks you to think about something too...

So how did Kenny tie this all in to church and God?

Well that was the interesting part...I knew the Steve Jobs stuff already.

But Kenny's point was, and I love these questions he asks...

"what is going to be the center, the hub, of your life?"

and

"is what is at the center of your life worth it in the end?"

Biq questions.

He suggested that if you can't put your finger on what is at the center of your life, then, if you are brave and REALLY want an answer...ask someone.

If we are to be good Christians, GOD should be at the center of our lives. And if He is, well then the rest will all fall into place.

BUT...

and here's a big "BUT"...

most of us don't live that way.

We have other things at the center of our lives.

For Steve Jobs it was Apple and technology...his family too but to a lesser extent I believe (from accounts I have read).

If you ask my children,, they would say working out was the center of my life these days.

Not true...but in their minds it seems all I do is work out.

They just don't realize what I do the other 21-23 hours a day.

The center of my life IS THEM. But they don't see it that way...they don't realize how many hours of the day I am doing something related to them.

Heck, even my working out is related to them so that I will be healthy and live a long life...so that Ke$ha Barbie can continue to be Satan to me into my old age. I'd like to think that I will be a loving enough mother that she will come and visit me in the nursing home and put lipstick on me and brush my hair but I have a feeling that will never happen.

Oh, the nursing home will happen...Ke$ha Barbie is not going to let me live with her...

Ke$ha Barbie coming to take care of me will not ever happen.

The Cutest Boy in the World (TCBITW) better marry someone really amazing.

So on my way home I got to thinking...Steve Jobs changed the world...Pastor Kenny changes the world (or at least my heart) every time I hear him speak...but is there anything I can do to change the world?

Hmmmmm....

In a sense I have...I gave birth to 2 amazing kids...Ke$ha Barbie might very well change the world with her art. And I have a feeling that TCBITW is going to do amazing things too.

But no, that is not really ME changing the world...

I started thinking about this blog...and all of you who read it...and wondered...

MAYBE I HAVEN'T CHANGED YOUR LIFE, BUT HAVE I EVER SAID ANYTHING HERE THAT GOT YOU TO THINK? OR TO CHANGE YOUR MIND ABOUT SOMETHING? OR TO OPEN UP TO A NEW POSSIBILITY?

OR...AT THE EVERY LEAST...DID I GET YOU TO TRY SPIN CLASS OR DO SOME EXERCISE?

Well, if the answer to any of that is "yes"...for even just one of you...

Well, then...

I CHANGED THE WORLD!

Well, maybe not the world, but I did something that caused a change for someone.

I"m not capable of changing the world. I do not possess the brains, money, or talent to do so.

But I can change lives...or at least make an impact...or do something that is good for someone else.

I don't plan to use this blog as a platform (although I do sometimes...), so I won't go and get in all the Christian and God stuff as it applies here...you don't come here for a sermon...you can go to your own church...or join me at The Bridge Fellowship...

but I do want to encourage you to try...daily...or at least weekly...to do some good for others or for the world...

I"m challenging myself this week to do that...to try, on a daily basis, to do something for someone else...someone who is not my family or children...someone who needs my help...or that I can do something for...and my real challenge to myself is to try and do it with an act or deed and not money.

It's just a little experiment with myself.

Because sometimes I get too wrapped up in the "me" of me...I mean, I do things for others but very often I get so caught up in my own life that I miss significant things for others.

Like my best friend's birthday...yeah, I am the worse bestie in the world cause I totally forgot her birthday. She has forgiven me but I will never forgive myself. I just got wrapped up in my own stuff and let the day slide right by me.

So I"m gonna straighten myself up and quit thinking so much about myself and me, me, me...

And see what I can do to change the world...

I may not be Steve Jobs, but I don't need to be...

I just need to be a better version of myself...and I'm not talking about the outside of myself but the inside of myself...and do something for others...

I'll let you know how it goes...

Inspiration Song: "Change the World" by Eric Clapton. I love that song...it is beautiful...

Bye Darlings...what is at the center of your life? Is it worth it? And what can YOU do to change the world?

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