Peace…
Dave
MY GUIDING PRINCIPLES
October 2011
My Enduring Vision
I dream…
OF BEING an intimate friend of God and a faithful servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, THE Good Shepherd.
OF HAVING THE HEART OF THE FATHER and the Mind of Christ.
OF LIVING a simple, open, and ordinary life inspired by a great love for God and for others and by an insatiable enthusiasm for life and for everything that has life.
OF BEING a missional conduit of God’s loving-kindness, joy, compassion, and equanimity to everyone within the realm of my influence and existence.
OF SPILLING OUT MY LIFE into the lives of those around me.
OF BEING A PORTAL of prayer and worship through which God Almighty hallows His Name and extends His kingdom.
OF HEARING MY FATHER SAY one day, “Well, done, My good and faithful servant. Enter in to your Master’s rest.”
OF BEING a CO-creator with God of a child-like, and yet ever-expanding, life dedicated to living in and enjoying the moment and to serving selflessly God and everyone around me.
OF PLAYING AT LIFE and, when I’m 104, being the oldest 11-year-old walking the face of the planet.
OF BEING A CREATOR OF CULTURE by living holistically and by integrating art and science, pragmatism and vision into the creation of life-giving works of music, writing, and art, life-enhancing inventions, products, and devices, and life-sustaining environmental treatment and recycling systems.
OF BEING A TENDER-HEARTED WARRIOR … and that is, a man who’s transpersonally devoted to compassionately warring on behalf of God’s people and who’s dedicated to defending life, freedom, and dignity in all its many forms, tastes, shapes, and colors.
OF BEING A SENSUOUS LOVER…and that is, a man who lives from the deep places of his heart, a man who’s very much in love with life, and a man who’s unashamed to be romanced by God or to be touched intimately by the beauty and sensuousness of life.
OF BEING A MAGICIAN/SAGE…and that is, a man of genuine wisdom, fruitful counsel, compassion, self-awareness, self-control, and technical skill, a man who knows the contributions he’s been raised and trained by God to make in the world, and a man who’s adopted “the practice of practicing everything”…
How he eats.
How he sleeps.
How he writes.
How he brushes his teeth.
How he washes the dishes.
How he loves and respects and honors and makes love with the woman he loves, has married, and has committed himself to for life.
How he moves and trains and works the bag.
How he engages in his work.
How he gives to others.
And…
How he serves God.
And…
OF BEING A BENEFICENT KING…and that is, a man who’s been raised by God to rule well with a kingly heart, and a man who’s become like Jesus (the King of Kings) in his generous and generative spirit, life-giving nature, protective care, disciplined guidance, fearless leadership, and beneficent heart.
My purpose
My purpose in life is…
TO LIVE.
To LOVE, HONOR, AND GLORIFY God, principally through my unbridled enjoyment of Him and of all people.
And..
To love others by spilling my life into them, listening to them, praying for them, and serving them selflessly in whatever ways I can.
My MISSION
My mission in life is…
To extend the kingdom of God.
To create wealth and to secure resources that enhance my family’s quality of life and that fund and sustain my call to lead and engage in holistic missionary adventures and endeavors throughout central North Carolina, the United States, and the developing/rebuilding world.
TO INSPIRE those around me to dream and to pursue their dreams with great abandon.
To WRITE IN WAYs that encourage and challenge my readers to pursue deeper intimacy with God and with each other.
To WRITE IN WAYs that encourage and challenge my readers to pursue deeper intimacy with God and with each other.
TO LIVE AND TO DO SO AS A LITTLE CHILD. For just as the purpose of riding a bike is the actual riding of it, so also, the purpose of life is found in the living of it. To live as a little child means…
To love with great abandon in the here and now.
To forgive quickly and easily.
To not have to own anything to be happy.
To feel that everyone is a friend, and to treat each person I encounter accordingly.
To rest securely in the protection and care of my Abba Daddy.
To never stop asking questions.
To never lose my delight in life as I am experiencing it right now.
And…
To never lose the wonder I am feeling right now toward even the most simplest of ideas, events, people, places, creatures, or things.
To support and aid others in their desire to live holistically and sustainably.
To protect and preserve the environment, and to provide real and lasting solutions to water quality and other environmental problems that plague our planet.
TO BRING WATER (both physical and spiritual) to the thirsty.
To engage in local watershed protection and restoration efforts.
To invent and develop products and devices that enhance the quality of life for others.
And…
To provide assistance and peace of mind to owners, operators, and regulators of environmental treatment and recycling systems.
I do all of the above…
By seeking God continuously, and by contemplating His Word, Will, and Ways day and night.
By engaging in monastic practice.
By pursuing deep and intimate community with others…here in central North Carolina and throughout the world.
By writing from a place of deep joy and satisfaction in God.
By setting an example in holistic and sustainable living patterns.
By creating environmental treatment and recycling systems that protect our environment and that enhance our individual and corporate enjoyment of life.
By developing and pioneering various inventions, devices, and products, assessment and evaluation methodologies, and cutting-edge implementation strategies that contribute to sustainable living initiatives and to the restoration of ecological function in our meadows, forests, streams, and water bodies.
By conducting thorough construction and regulatory compliance inspections, assessments, and evaluations.
By serving as an intermediary between governmental regulators and environmental treatment and recycling system owners.
By providing comprehensive—yet readable—environmental and functional assessment reports, user-friendly operational guides and planning tools, and cost-effective design solutions.
By supplying worry-free contractor selection and contract administration services.
By linking governmental regulators, community leaders, and environmental treatment and recycling system owners with innovative problem-solving products, methods, and technologies.
And…
By promoting ecological interest, aesthetic beauty, resource conservation, and environmental stewardship in the world.
My VALUES AND BELIEFS
I BELIEVE and affirm the words of The Nicene Creed , which read as follows:
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, Eternally Begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God, Begotten, not made, of One Being (“Ousia”) with the Father. Through Him all things were made. For us and for our salvation, He came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit, He became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake, He was crucified under Pontius Pilate; He suffered death and was buried. On the third day, He rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the Right Hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and His kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, Who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son, He is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, Eternally Begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God, Begotten, not made, of One Being (“Ousia”) with the Father. Through Him all things were made. For us and for our salvation, He came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit, He became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake, He was crucified under Pontius Pilate; He suffered death and was buried. On the third day, He rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the Right Hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and His kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, Who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son, He is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
For me, this particular creed establishes what I know to be the fundamentals of my faith and those things which are, in my belief, understanding, and experience, decidedly true, normative, and worth staking my life upon. Discussions about theological matters, church organizational strategies, worship forms, customs, and practices, outreach methods, and life-style issues that exist outside of what is written within the above creed can and should be subject to open, honest, and respectful discourse and should be conducted within the light of the creed, the life and teachings of Jesus, the freedom Jesus imparts, The Holy Eucharist (The Great Thanksgiving), tested church tradition, and surrendered human reason.
I BELIEVE that the Old and New Testaments of the Bible comprise the Holy Written Word of God and that the life and teachings of Jesus provide the fullest and most complete interpretation of the Old Testament Scriptures.
I BELIEVE in the special gifting of the Holy Spirit, and I believe that such gifts are for today and that they are absolutely critical to the growth and health of Christian community and to the furthering of God’s kingdom.
I BELIEVE that God speaks to us (primarily) through His Holy Written word; I believe, also, that He speaks to us through The Holy Eucharist (The Great Thanksgiving), through tested church tradition, through the sacred (canonized and non-canonized) writings of the saints (both new and old), through pastors, prophets, and teachers, through parents, through lay ministers and believers in Jesus from all walks of life, through surrendered human reason, through creation, and directly within the privacy of our own souls. For any “word” from God to be deemed as such, it must be congruent with the creed, the teachings of Jesus, and “the whole” of God’s Holy Written Word; if such “a word” appears to fail such a test, it is to be rendered suspect as it is impossible for God to lie or to contradict Himself.
I BELIEVE that God is both imminent and transcendent, meaning, He is deeply personal and yet so far beyond anything we can see, hear, feel, taste, smell, or monitor with our “sensing” instruments.
I BELIEVE that God is sovereign and that He respects the endowment of freewill, which He has so thoroughly and wonderfully woven into the fabric of humanity. How the two are reconciled is a mystery to me. Within this mystery, though, I know that God’s intervention (or, at times, His seeming lack thereof) is intended ALWAYS to bring about ultimate good and His absolute best—as HE defines it.
I BELIEVE that God loves me intimately and that He continues, through the work of His Son and the Holy Spirit, to do in and for me that which I cannot do for myself.
I BELIEVE that God is most glorified in me when I am most satisfied in Him.
I BELIEVE that God hears me when I pray and that my prayers are a portal through which God intervenes in the affairs of mankind…both personally and corporately. How this is so is a mystery to me.
I BELIEVE that living a selfless life of devotion toward God and providing faithful and genuine service to others are the highest and most noble of all virtues.
I BELIEVE that the building of loving and life-giving relationships, founded upon a spirit of genuineness and mutual kindness, respect, dignity, and compassion, is central to the achieving of anything worthwhile.
I AM SUBMITTED to my pastors, to my friend Julie, to my Board of Spiritual Directors, to my entire family, to my life group (The Just His Team), to Hope Missions/International (HMI), to the community of Newhope Church in Durham, North Carolina, to my employers, to my employees, to my work colleagues, to my customers, to my acquaintances, to my civic and political leaders, and to all those with whom I interact during the day.
I CONDUCT MYSELF with the utmost integrity and respect.
I AM CONVINCED THAT A LOVING WIFE is one of God’s greatest gifts in life, and I ascribe to the belief and practice that the piercing pleasure and intimacy of sexual intercourse is a gift of God given to be enjoyed between a man and a woman solely within the context of a God-ordained marriage covenant.
I KNOW THAT CHILDREN are a great heritage from God and that their souls are to be cherished, encouraged, nourished, and protected in the Ways, Will, and Words of God and that all of this is to be divinely accomplished under the watchful care and discipline of two loving parents who have themselves submitted to God and to each other within the context and comfort of a local Christian community.
I AM COMMITTED to living in community with a few select brothers and sisters who love me and who are acquainted with the messy details of my life.
I NOURISH my body with healthy and tasty food and drink, weekly fasts, regular exercise, sufficient rest, relaxation, and recreation, exuberant laughter, honey in my food, tea, and coffee, and an occasional glass of wine or a piece of dark chocolate.
I DO NOT DO for others what they must do for themselves. In fact, in such instances where freedom of choice is available, I do only that which has been asked for, and then only after careful and prayerful consideration. To do otherwise is to engage in unhealthy giving, which creates dependence, stymies self-respect, human dignity, and the advancement of God’s kingdom, and hurts and devalues everyone involved.
I LEAD from the front, not the rear, and commit the full force of who I am to fulfilling my purpose and accomplishing my mission.
I SPEAK AND WRITE from the cutting edge of my own life, experience, and reason.
I KEEP ABREAST of emerging technologies, trends, and scientific discoveries.
I SEEK to recognize and honor God’s adaptive natural design in all my creative endeavors.
I CHOOSE the simple when the simple is all that is needed, for I have learned that, more often than not, real talent usually needs only the simplest of tools to accomplish its work.
I EMBRACE a war gaming approach to the critical evaluation of my theories, methods, solutions, and device proto-types.
I TAKE PRIDE and special delight in my never-ending cycle of self-stimulated improvement and investment in the future.
I WORK TO FOSTER a culture of continuous learning, exploration, spiritual hunger, development, and scientific playfulness.
I ENDEAVOR TO PROVIDE a safe and enjoyable playing field on which those around me can learn, practice, and train in anything that suits them.
I ENSURE a happy, safe, and energizing work environment.
I CONTRIBUTE to the well-being of myself and others through my relentless drive for progress and my unending quest to preserve the integrity of my ideals.
And, through my surrenderedness to God and my commitment to relationship-building, service, and selflessness…
I LIVE from my heart and seek always to reflect the magnificent glory of Almighty God as I work to build long-term friendships and partnerships with people from all walks of life.
MY CARD
The Oils of My Gladness, Inc.
Dave and Almighty God, Soul Proprietors
Specializing in (1) Warriorship and Holistic Living; (2) Faith, Mission, Work, and Monasticism; (3) Art and Science; (4) Service and Selflessness; (5) Humor, Paradox, and Change; (6) Creating Culture; and (7) Exercise and the Practice of Everything.
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ENGINEERING AND LEONARDO DA VINCI
“Leonardo [da Vinci] took an artist’s vision into science. He understood that science, as much as painting, has to find the design of nature in her detail. He gave science what is most needed: the artist's sense that the detail of nature is significant.” – Jacob Bronowski
“Problems cannot be solved at the same level of consciousness that created them.” – Albert Einstein
“[We are] struggling to draw right conclusions from observation of matter in motion, because we haven’t acquired the ability to translate dynamic effect back to cause.” – Jeff Tennant
“The pursuit of beauty and the pursuit of truth are not incompatible.” – George Sarton
It has been said that an engineer is one who seeks to solve a problem by tinkering with science to produce a functionally efficient solution, be it the harnessing of geothermal energy from thousands of feet below the earth’s surface to the placing of a human being on the moon. As engineers, we must first and foremost do well to observe the many natural phenomena and corresponding scientific explanations that inform our technical expertise. But as human beings, our observations should never end there. A sunset can be described mathematically, but does such a description capture the essence of a sunset?
To observe rightly, we must draw from both the scientist and the artist within us…from the mathematician and the poet...from the pragmatist and the visionary. For only then will our faculties and senses work together synergistically to observe the world around us more completely. Without such observations, we will never see the problems we encounter correctly or in the right context, nor will we conceive of real and lasting solutions that harmonize naturally with our environment.
The practice of engineering is and must be a conscious blending of both art and science (the da Vincian principle of “Arte/Scienza” [see Note]); and its principles must be exercised in the context of an entire system, where all elements are part of One Unified Whole, including the principles and practices themselves (the da Vincian principle of “Connessione” [also see Note]). Anything less is beneath us as human beings created in the image of a creating God...
...A God Who is still creating.
...Even in this moment.
Note: For an expanded discussion of these and other da Vincian principles, I recommend Michael Gelb’s book, How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day.
MY DESIDERATA
I WISH TO LIVE a simple, open, and ordinary life inspired by a great love for God and for others and by an insatiable enthusiasm for life and for everything that has life.
I WILL LOOK to see, listen to hear, and touch to feel.
I WILL TASTE my food and drink.
WHEN I SPEAK, IT WILL BE TO SHARE my thoughts, feelings, and dreams. And, at times, even my complaints—but not very often.
I WILL INDULGE my sense of smell. And humor.
I WILL BE OKAY with the unknown, but never stop asking questions.
I WILL REFRAIN from gossip, look for the good in other people and in other things, and count others as better than myself.
I WILL BE CREATIVE and allow the artist within to emerge.
I WILL BE GENUINE.
I WILL FEEL things deeply, but be slow to take offense.
I WILL EMBRACE paradox.
IN EVERY WAY, I WILL SEEK opportunity to lay my life down for others.
I WILL TAKE THINGS IN STRIDE and, like the willow, bend with the breeze and be at home in the presence of water.
I WILL MAKE BEAUTIFUL MUSIC my soul’s anthem.
I WILL BE GENEROUS to those who hurt me.
I WILL CLIMB. High.
I WILL TELL those I love how much I love them and what they’ve meant to me in my life.
I WILL ENJOY the quiet of my own thoughts.
AND WHEN I DREAM, IT WILL BE OF GREAT THINGS: convertibles, big waves, white rivers, and vertical rock faces. I will also dream of freedom.
I WILL FIND A WAY to enjoy the weather no matter how cold and rainy it might be.
I WILL ENJOY the sensation of breathing.
I WILL EMBRACE those things I’m afraid of and push myself beyond my perceived limits.
I WILL READ the letters of old friends.
I WILL LEARN.
I WILL SPEND LESS than I make and work in such a way as to ensure the success of those for whom I work.
I WILL TAKE TIME to write.
I WILL NO LONGER HIDE my vulnerabilities.
I WILL SET personal records.
I WILL EXPRESS myself in ways that children understand.
I WILL LOOK BACK to that from which I came.
I WILL CREATE shared memories with others.
I WILL THINK UPON the love God has for me personally and, when my cup is full, allow my heart to weep its deep waterfall of tears.
I WILL REFLECT on the hurt I’ve caused in others.
I WILL PLAY at life: at 104, I will be the oldest 11-year-old walking the face of the planet.
I WILL SHARE my heart with those nearest it and not just wait for things to happen.
I WILL NOT LET LIFE PASS me by—I will pursue it with great abandon.
I WILL SPEAK the truth in kindness and strive to make a difference in the lives of individual people.
I WILL ENJOY my mornings and be grateful for what God has given me, striving ever to thank Him even in the midst of great loss.
I WILL NOT FORCE myself upon others, but will invite and welcome their company.
WITH PATIENT ENDURANCE, I WILL RUN the race set before me—for it will be MY race. I will pace myself, forever remembering the good things, until at long last I draw my final breath.
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