Executing Ideas

Today, a new friend, Abby Remein, and I were at the University of Wisconsin, my alma mater.  We went up to three students sitting in the grass in front of the Kohl Center.  I told them how I got my diploma in that very building ten years before, how Abby was in town with me, that we both worked for Intervarsity, and we wanted to talk to people about spirituality, religion, and Jesus.  They were game, so we sat down in the grass with them.  We asked about their views on life, on evil in the world and ourselves, and responses to and solutions for that evil.  They told us about growing up in church, dating a Christian, and kind of forgetting about Jesus since getting to school.

We talked about the BP spill, 9/11, broken relationships, and our own selfishness. The conversation turned to how we all wanted something better.  Abby and I talked about our processes of coming to believe in Jesus as the way to reconnect with God, to be changed for better relationships, and to unite with others to be positive change agents in the world.  We asked if they wanted to take steps in that direction.  All three wanted to learn more about it and keep talking.  So we exchanged emails.

It was a real good day.

is that sometimes you have to write.  I said this one day to Chrissy, my wife.  And now I say it a lot.  I don’t know how some folks blog and blog and blog without deadlines and editors.  When I’m on a piece for a magazine, there are parameters.  There is drive.  Some folks have heard me say “hands on keys, butt on chair” (“HOKBOC”), the key to writing.  In large part, that’s true.

There have been thought-provoking changes afoot in my life.  I’ve just moved back to the U.S. after years in Nicaragua, China, and South Africa.  I’ve just started as part of the leadership team in a large faith-based nonprofit’s communications department.  My wife, two kids, and I have just moved to a new city.  And I’m working on a Master of Theology thesis on the practice and use of photojournalism.  So I thought I would have something to share.  This is where that will happen.