Random

Things I Don’t Understand

/ Jason Morris / Leave a comment

1. John Calipari’s salary at Kentucky. This guy isn’t bringing in a bunch of national championship rings. He recruits well, which is crucial in NCAA sports. But, does it justify the salary. I believe that our nation (and world) needs to get the salaries of our sports figures (coaches, athletes, owners, etc) under control. When athletes are among the highest paid individuals in society, I believe it indicates a problem.

2. Bonuses given to leaders of failing companies. I thought bonuses were supposed to be based on job performance. If one does a great job, they get “rewarded.” If one does a poor job, they do not get “rewarded.” As I look at the bonuses given to top executives in various fields, I wonder how any of this is justified. I feel that one and two are both related to over-consumption…and I could go on for hours about that.

3. People slamming wealthy Christians. I read a blog recently that posed the question, “How can there be wealthy Christians?” It’s really a pretty easy question to answer. Scripture is full of references about faithfulness…to those who have been faithful with a little, more will be given, etc. I think the more important question is “Why do we need wealthy Christians?” If we all took vows of poverty, how would we support the needs of our church, community, and world? And, let’s face it, even though many in the US would not consider me to be a wealthy Christian, in a worldview…I am a wealthy Christian. We need Christians at all socio-economic levels who demonstrate faithfulness.

4. That Adam guy on American Idol. He keeps getting the praises of the judges. He keeps receiving America’s vote. And, I just don’t get it. They keep saying that he’s “hip”, he’s “relevant”, he’s very “now.” All I can think of is that he should be fronting a reunion tour of Whitesnake or some other 80’s hair metal band. Yes, he hits high notes…but he’s kind of a one trick pony. Every song you know he’s going to start screaming like Mariah Carey. I’m so over it.

5. No quotes on my Peace Cereal box. It used to be that whenever I opened up a box of Raspberry Ginger Crisp that there would be a quote from some noteable world leader who worked for peace. It would be something that would start my morning off in the right direction. Now, the quotes are gone. The cereal is still my all-time favorite. But, I wonder why Peace Cereals decided to stop printing the quotes.

Knowing Your Audience

/ Jason Morris / Leave a comment

Lately, I’ve been reminded of the importance of knowing one’s audience. When speaking, performing, or creating art, one needs to be aware and have a decent working knowledge of the target audience.

 

I have had a couple of moments recently where I have noticed that I wasn’t as in tune with my audience as I had thought. In both situations, I let out some sarcastic comments that helped make a point. However, rather than picking up on the sarcasm, some in the audience were offended…Not that offending one’s audience is an awful thing (sometimes we need to offend people in order to spur them on), but if that’s not one’s intended result it can cause some serious damage. I thought I knew my audience. So, I went out on a limb and, in the end, found myself realizing that I didn’t connect with the audience as well as I had hoped.

 

I remember visiting a church where the pastor was really trying to connect with his audience. He had obviously spent some time researching the culture of this target audience. But, he wasn’t living in the culture…he was an outsider looking in. When he tried to connect with the audience with pop culture references, he failed. He referred to Bono, which goes over well with a crowd of 20-somethings. But, he pronounced the name as you would Sonny Bono’s last name, and not the name of the lead singer of one of the world’s greatest bands. He then referred to Flea of the Red Hot Peppers. Sure, these are simple slips. But, I remember thinking the guy seemed rather goofy…trying to be someone he wasn’t. This was an audience looking for some honesty, some authenticity, and all they received was a guy trying to be someone he was not.

 

This transfers to the art and music worlds as well. You have to know your audience. Sure, it’s totally appropriate to bring people along, to challenge them. But, if you want to accomplish a greater goal of connecting with the audience, you have to know what they are looking for. As a painter, you probably wouldn’t do some nudes for James Dobson. Generally, the ultra-conservative Christian folks aren’t into nudity. As a musician, you have to know that the audience has come in great hopes that you will play their favorite songs. I remember seeing R.E.M. years ago when they basically refused to play anything pre-Green album (which leaves out some of their best work). I found myself longing to hear certain songs, only to leave disappointed.

 

Yesterday, I was at a gathering where a praise team was asked to lead a time of worship. It was kind of cheesy for my taste, but for what they were doing they did a decent job. But, I really felt like they had no clue who their audience was. They did a bunch of slow and medium paced tunes (about 25 minutes worth). The “fast” songs they performed, the ones meant to energize the crowd, were at least 20 bpm too slow. However, it wasn’t the tempo’s that made me realize they were out-of-touch with the audience. It was the song selection. In a gathering of United Methodists, one has to realize that the average age is probably going to be over 65. One has to realize that the average person is going to be a huge fan of hymns, especially those composed by Charles Wesley. So, it would have been appropriate to throw in at least one familiar hymn. Instead, what I witnessed was a room full of older adults awkwardly singing along with unfamiliar songs. A few verses of some Wesley tune (like “And Can It Be” or “O For A Thousand Tongues”) would have had the audience going crazy!

 

What I’ve truly been reminded of is that there has to be a healthy balance of challenging people, giving them what they want, and giving them what they need. As a pastor, this is a great challenge. In a typical congregation, one encounters people at various stages in their spiritual development…all desiring different things. Finding a healthy balance is extremely difficult. It’s really easy to set the bar way too high or way too low. There is a great art to meeting people where they are at and bringing them to where God desires us to be.

Raise Your Voice…Or Not.

/ Jason Morris / Leave a comment

One of the things I often look forward to receiving in my inbox is the “Verse and Voice” from Sojourners. I often find an encouraging or challenging word. Today, they used a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. that really made me think. Dr. King said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

When I read that sentence, I found myself challenged in two ways.

First, there are times when I do find myself remaining silent on things that matter. I am in a field in which I need to speak about injustice, oppression, and the like. And, yet, when presented with opportunities to speak up, I often back away silently. I need to have the bold courage to stand up for and raise my voice on the things that matter.

On the other hand, there are times in which I boldly speak out about things that don’t matter. Take last Tuesday night for example. I was speaking forcefully and passionately about tables and chairs. The words I spoke were honest and truthful. But, in the long run, it was about something that simply does not matter. I could have directed my time and energy into much more important ventures. However, I let a simple matter momentarily steal my focus. I believe our lives begin to end when we waste our time speaking of things that don’t matter.

So, today, I’m going to do my best to remain silent on things that don’t matter and to have the courage to break my silence on those things that do matter.

Bad Service and False Hope

/ Jason Morris / Leave a comment

Today, I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting on how business and politics generally set us up only to let us down.

It all started when I was going to find a place to sit and enjoy my lunch at the Panera in Anderson. The first three open seats I found were absolutely filthy. I finally settled on the least dirty area of the restaurant. Emily also commented on how filthy the place was and asked, “Should we even eat here?”

Now, they could not have even used the “we are really slammed and haven’t gotten around to cleaning the dining room” excuse, as they were not busy at all. To me, it was simply a sign of incompetent management and a lazy workforce. When I go to Panera, I have certain expectations. I generally believe it should be cleaner than Dill Street or the Chug. That simply wasn’t the case today. Instead, because of our bad experience with the cleanliness of this establishment (which equals bad service in my book) we will not return to the Anderson Panera.

All of this reminded me of the false hope that had been instilled in my mind by some of our local politicians. We have been going around in circles with the Delaware County Auditor and Treasurer. In January, we met with them…they stayed late…they helped us iron out some very important details. We thought things had been taken care of. In the meeting we had, the Auditor and Treasure ensured us that the latest our issue would be resolved was February 19th. When I left the meeting, I had a great sense of hope that maybe there are some honest and trustworthy politicians in Delaware County. But, reality has set in.

As of Friday, they have not resolved the issue. It’s an issue that could easily be resolved…which is why they had told us it would be easily taken care of in February. In our meeting, they basically told us what we wanted to hear…the things that would get us off their backs (which in turn would get two State Representatives and one US Senator off their backs). However, much like the rhetoric that is spilled out during campaign season, their promises were nothing more than empty statements that equal dirty politics as usual. The biggest issue to me is that the government continually refuses to make any kind of admission to making an error. They blame everyone else…they pass the buck, claim that, they too are victims…and simply don’t follow through with their promises.

To me, if their hands truly were tied and they couldn’t resolve the issue in a timely manner, than that is what they should have told us. Instead, they lied to us. It is sadly unfortunate that political figures are not trustworthy. I wanted to trust them…I wanted to believe them. But, they made me look like a fool. So, I guess that’s shame on me for trusting someone that was “working on my behalf.

It’s no wonder why people and businesses are leaving Muncie and Delaware County. So much for a government “of the people, by the people, for the people.”

Wisdom from Prevention

/ Jason Morris / Leave a comment

One of the numerous magazines Emily receives at home is Prevention. Sometimes when I am overcome by boredom, I will thumb through the pages of this magazine. Today I found a short article that just might have some helpful information. 

The article is called “Hot Secret for Instant Bonding.” Sounds kind of racy, doesn’t it? Well, here is what it says:

“Want to feel closer to a loved one? Just hand her a hot drink: Clutching a steaming beverage – whether coffee, cocoa, or tea – can elicit a flood of positive feelings, according to a Yale University study. This may be because people associate physical warmth with emotional warmth, say the researchers. Study subjects held cups of either hot or iced coffee; those gripping warm mugs were more appreciative of friendliness in others – and also felt more generous and trusting themselves.”

Given the results of this study, I’m beginning to think that it would be beneficial to use this information when preparing for meetings. When I know that we might be dealing with difficult subject matter, I should make sure that everyone has a warm beverage. Maybe even cranking the heat up a degree would be helpful???

 So, if you have to have a stressful discussion with a friend, family member, or co-worker, be sure to bring them a hot cup of coffee, tea, or cocoa!