A walk in the dark

I watched Scorsese's The Departed with my wife the other night. I didn't get the chance to see it in the theater, so we got the fireplace roaring and settled into our den and watched the dvd. With a line-up like the one for this movie (Nicholson, DeCaprio, Sheen, Walhberg, Damon, Baldwin), your biggest fear is that even with all that firepower it's not going to be all you hoped it would be. Nothing could be further from the truth about this movie. It delivers, and in a big way. I have no idea if Scorsese will finally win his first directorial Oscar, but I'd vote for him after seeing this film. The movie does a wonderful job of portraying how closely to the edge of right and wrong all of us can walk, and how sometimes there's no line at all, we instead just have to trust our steps.

Based on the way my week has gone, the movie also caused me to think about how easy it is to be hurt or angered by those whom we just knew we could trust, but then found out we should have never done so in the first place. At this point in my life, I would much rather endure the injury done by the person who made it clear from the beginning they intended to harm me, than to have to deal with the knife in my back from someone I was sure could and should be trusted. In the movie, Nicholson's character says that when it appeared someone had betryaed him, but he couldn't figure out who it was, he just killed everybody in his crew. A bit severe for sure, but obviously at the end of all that he at least knew he'd gotten the rat.

Since that's not the way any of us are going to handle the betrayals done to us, what will we do? I guess this takes us back to what I said earlier about having to trust your steps when the line has disappeared. And believe me, most of us are there right now, or we will be soon. My advice is to step firmly, stay out of the shadows, and make sure everybody knows where you stand. If you do that, the rats will have tendency to show themselves for who they are. Oh, and one more thing: watch your back.

What I'm reading or recommend reading

Over the last few weeks, several people have asked me what books I would recommend. So, here is a list of what I'm either reading or have read in the last couple of years that I find to be important:

The World is Flat/ 2.0 Version, by Thomas Friedman
The Barbarian Way, by Erwin McManus
A Generous Orthodoxy, by Brian McLaren
Listening to Your Life, by Frederick Buechner
The Critical Journey, by Janet Hagberg
Bono in Conversation with Michka Assayas, by Bono & Michka Assayas
The Gift of Being Yourself, by David Benner
Blue Like Jazz, by Donald Miller

In addition to these, I have just been given Barak Obama's The Audacity of Hope,
as well as The Gospel According to the Beatles (don't have the author's name in front of me), and I will begin reading these two books next month.

So, there you have it, what I've been reading that has helped to mess me up over the last couple of years. Since I'm in grad school right now, I don't get to read enough of my own choices, but I do fit in what I can when I can. Whenever I run across something else to recommend, you'll hear from me.

Later,

Jerry

Welcome to the future

After a bit of a wait, we're finally getting operational on this thing called FutureLife. Even though there are still some things that need to be added, we're finally at a place where we can at least start some conversation, as well as promoting events that we hope you will find interesting, challenging, enlightening, thought-provoking, or just plain cool.

I've been asked by several people over the last 2 months just what FutureLife is, and I'll have to admit that the answer is still a work in progress. But, let me at least attempt a working definition. Our simple vision statement goes like this; "FutureLife is a collection of thinkers, artists and leaders who are serious about change and creating the future...now." We're serious when we say this. Change can happen and change MUST happen at all levels of society, and it's up to us to make it happen. Plus, we do in fact believe that we can create the future, the kind of future that is dreamed of and longed for by people all over the planet. If you think this is ridiculously simplistic or just some kind of whacked out, mystical rambling, you couldn't be more wrong. Simply put, I'm talking about humans re-discovering what it really means to be human and living in such a way that transforms the world. If you're not sure this is possible, stick around and let's see what happens as we begin this journey together. And if you completely disagree with everything we're saying and trying to do here, we still want to hear from you. This site is for learning and growing, and even in our disagreement, we can accomplish both those things.

With that out of the way, let the journey begin. The future is waiting. The future is now.

Peace,

Jerry