day 1088: Autonomous Cars

"And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will guide you with knowledge and understanding."

The other day I got stuck in a major traffic jam on highway 101 south.  There was a terrible accident on the northbound side right smack in the heart of morning peak rush hour.  Dead stopped and no way to get off the highway for at least the next 30 minutes. I was already late and I really needed both hands to send a message, fire up my laptop to follow along with the meeting that I would now be calling into versus attending. As I was fretting I thought of the Google Autonomous Car I had seen driving itself the other day and I found myself wanting one, right now!  Imagine being able to sit in traffic and let the car do this:

I have read that millions of miles have now been logged by these cars and all without one accident and when in traffic, they are just great.  The car takes over and we can go about doing what else we want to do. I look forward to this day as I am not much of a driver anyway.  Keep your eyes open for an autonomous car to be driving next to you soon.  There aren't many of them on the road yet, but they are coming.  Like releasing control of anything in our lives, it will be hard to let go the first time, but I predict that these cars will be one of the fastest changer of human behavior we will experience in our lifetime. We will let go of the wheel quickly.

God says that we are His sheep and that He is always leading us, if we will just let him do so. If there is a place where we hold back and resist letting go it is when God wants us to let Him be in control. If our faith is strong enough to let a car, or an auto pilot software in a plane to take control, then why do we resist God's control?  What pilot or driver would you rather have and trust?  Software or "Godware"?  God wants us to relinquish the steering wheels of our lives to Him.  He doesn't make mistakes. His judgment is impeccable.  He doesn't take us in a wrong direction.  So, what's holding us back?  Consider today if you are allowing God to have full and willing control of life today?

Reference: Jeremiah 3:15 (New Living Translation)

day 1040: Who Is Really First?

^"That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”


In business we have become conditioned to think that it is with the people at the top that the best things happen. The press and the media always profile the CEO and Board Members but rarely are the rank and file or front line employees profiled, talked about or given the spotlight. I appreciate the CEOs who go out of their way to make sure that it is their employees who get the credit when the credit is due. But too many people try and take the credit and we when we see that happening there is a resentment than can build up and an attitude within the company that no matter who does what that the person at the top of the organization chart will take the credit. When this infiltrates the culture it is nearly impossible to remove it going forward. What is also scary is that this can sneak up on companies and because leaders don't see it, they may never know it is there, but the employees do. Any of us who are in leadership positions or who are even thought of as leaders on the team of our peers, need to be very sensitive and cognizant of not allowing ourselves to fall into the trap of taking credit. Amazing things are happening to all kinds of people in the company and sometimes even the most fascinating and exciting things can happen to those in the most unlikely positions.

It is this time of year when we study the Christmas story. It is made clear to us that the most lowly of the least desired jobs were the first to be told of the birth of Jesus and see him in the manger. The shepherds who were just out doing their jobs in the middle of the night were chosen to be the ones to go and find Jesus. How come the angels were not sent to Kings, CEOs, and people in important positions? Because, God was telling us once again that He is there for us all and He can't see organization charts, hierarchies, or amounts on W-2s. The angels revealed themselves and the birth of Jesus to the right people, because as we read in Luke Chapter 2, they were frightened and amazed. I only wish I could have heard their first hand account of that night. I suspect that any King or CEO listening to their stories wished they had been able to have been there. This week as you work, remember it is not who we think who has the most amazing things happen to them. Take a moment to recognize those who may feel like they get left out or forgotten. One word of encouragement and thanks this week could make a difference and they may well see your faith and belief coming through your words and actions.

Reference: Luke Chapter 2 (New Living Testament)

day 307: In A Whole New Light

The last couple of years have caused any of who work to stop and rethink everything. We have had to rethink our company directions, the access to capital, the loyalty of our customers, the regulations that comes with doing business and all these and more causing a lot of us to rethink our careers and the feelings we have about the jobs currently hold. At the end of the year, it is always a good time do an inventory of how the year has unfolded and take stock of how things have gone. For many, and at least 1 out 10 Americans, this past year has not gone well in the job market. This has been a year where the bright light that we had been seeing with has dimmed and it has been hard to vision the future. What has happened to us has not been any fun and it has taken its toll emotionally collectively and individually. It seems everyone has been touched by the economic woes, or knows of many who have. As we finish a year with anticipation, we look for the light at the the end of the tunnel and expect for it to show up for us at any moment. I again reflect on the night of Christ's birth when the shepherds were in the fields, going about their work. Their work being hard, dirty, lonely and not on the list of most desired jobs. When, suddenly they were exposed to a new light, a light from heaven that revealed to them something that would forever change their lives and the course of mankind. These were just men going about their jobs, that day being just like all others, when they began to see things in a different light. That is what God does for us. He gives us through free will the ability to go through our daily lives, to do our jobs, and chart a life course. And then when we have drifted or out there where it is lonely, dirty and undesirable, He will give us His light to find our way to, and back to Him. His light shines as brightly today as it did over 2000 years ago in Bethlehem. All we need to do is look for it and follow. Today, we start Christmas week. Can you look for the light to follow this week?

Reference: Luke, Chapter 2 (New Living Testament)

day 306: Patience

As I was thinking about today's post, I realized that at work the rare time that someone tells you that you have to have patience is when they are telling you that you are not going to achieve something that you want, that they are in control of giving. For example; a promotion, a transfer, a pay increase or more compensation of any sort. I can hear myself having told others, "You just need to be patient". I also have used different words to say the same thing like, "It's not a matter of if, it is a matter of when". I can't say that this is all bad, it's just that the juxtaposition of this message with most of the other messages in business that makes the message difference so stark. In one conversation, like in most, it is about how fast can we achieve something, but when it comes to our own development and progression, we are to have "patience". That all said, we know that patience is a virtue and those who have a healthy dose of it seem to be happier and have more long-term endurance. It is one of the harder areas in our lives to balance at work because it means having both a long-term view while still having short-term "oomph". In this Christmas season, I think of a group of people who must have had an enormous amount of patience. These being the shepherds who were the first to be told and see the baby Jesus. Of course, they had to be shown to believe, but once they were in the presence of Jesus they knew then and there that He was the King. But think about what happened next to them. They went back to their work, into the fields, and then depending upon their age at the time, may never have known if Jesus was really the King or not. For another 30 years, they would have no indication of what they saw that night was real, or not. What faith the ones who held their belief all that time must have had. Even their best of friends and family must have begun to worry about them after they kept telling the same story over and over with nothing to prove it really happened. We are like that many times too. We trust in God for something in the moment that we know he can deliver, but after time, if nothing happens, our trust and faith erodes and dissipates as if we never believed in the first place. God gives us the example of the shepherds in Luke Chapter 2 as examples of faith and patience. We, like them, need to have the patience to wait and hold on to what we believe and in God's own time, He will reveal Himself once again. Today would be a great day to reflect on the patience of the shepherds and to challenge ourselves on our own patience level not only with God, but with others around us. He wants us to be the ones who have the patience, of Job and the patience of the shepherds.

Reference: Luke Chapter 2 (New Living Testament)

day 302: Not Who You Think...

In business we have become conditioned to think that it is with the people at the top that the best things happen. The press and the media always profile the CEO and Board Members but rarely are the rank and file or front line employees profiled, talked about or given the spotlight. I appreciate the CEOs who go out of their way to make sure that it is their employees who get the credit when the credit is due. But too many people try and take the credit and we when we see that happening there is a resentment than can build up and an attitude within the company that no matter who does what that the person at the top of the organization chart will take the credit. When this infiltrates the culture it is nearly impossible to remove it going forward. What is also scary is that this can sneak up on companies and because leaders don't see it, they may never know it is there, but the employees do. Any of us who are in leadership positions or who are even thought of as leaders on the team of our peers, need to be very sensitive and cognizant of not allowing ourselves to fall into the trap of taking credit. Amazing things are happening to all kinds of people in the company and sometimes even the most fascinating and exciting things can happen to those in the most unlikely positions. It is this time of year when we study the Christmas story. It is made clear to us that the most lowly of the least desired jobs were the first to be told of the birth of Jesus and see him in the manger. The shepherds who were just out doing their jobs in the middle of the night were chosen to be the ones to go and find Jesus. How come the angels were not sent to Kings, CEOs, and people in important positions? Because, God was telling us once again that He is there for us all and He can't see organization charts, hierarchies, or amounts on W-2s. The angels revealed themselves and the birth of Jesus to the right people, because as we read in Luke Chapter 2, they were frightened and amazed. I only wish I could have heard their first hand account of that night. I suspect that any King or CEO listening to their stories wished they had been able to have been there. This week as you work, remember it is not who we think who has the most amazing things happen to them. Take a moment to recognize those who may feel like they get left out or forgotten. One word of encouragement and thanks this week could make a difference and they may well see your faith and belief coming through your words and actions.

Reference: Luke Chapter 2 (New Living Testament)