June 11, 2012 So… it’s Friday night, and Cheri and I are in front of a dinner crowd of 150+ people, on the 67th floor of the Sears Tower in Chicago… praying to commission a couple who are leaving business to become missionaries. There’s a story there… The convergence of real …
Author Archives: Bob Shank
Where’s the pond?
June 4, 2012 Some of these weekly missives – delivered as a “push,” or experienced as a blog (see pov.mastersprogram.org), land without fanfare. They generate little direct response – for the e-mail version, the “reply” reaction; for the blog, a “comment” – but stimulate thought, nonetheless. Occasionally, there's more reaction. That …
Moving Forward
May 28, 2012 Chances are, you’re not in your office today; rather, you’re participating in some activities in recognition of Memorial Day. Its origins trace back to the end of the Civil War, when the fallen were honored. Though focused on those who died, veterans and active duty are often applauded in church …
It All Depends
May 21, 2012 It all depends. I said, “depends,” not, “Depends.” That’s because “depends” means, “to be contingent; to be affected or decided by other factors.” If I had said, “Depends,” that would have referred to a brand of disposable adult diapers, which is a product with a …
Put that down!
May 14, 2012 Put that down! If you’re reading this Point of View on your SmartPhone, while driving, you should wait until you’ve come to a complete stop. Any use of any remote device while driving has just raised your odds of calamity by a 4x factor. You may be willing …
Star Wars (the first of the six)
May 7, 2012 Help! Years ago you served my father in the Clone Wars. Now he begs you to help him in his struggle against the Empire. I regret that I am unable to convey my father's request to you in person, but my ship has fallen under attack, and I'm …
Dear Abby
April 30, 2012 You just can't make this stuff up. Jeanne Phillips took over the keyboard from her mom, Pauline Phillips, on July 22, 2002 as the source of answers to the 5,000-10,000 people who issue pleas for help from Dear Abby. Yesterday's syndicated column had this earth-shaking query: "My cousin …
Rich Saul
April 23, 2012 So… what are you up to, between now and “the end?” What are you planning to accomplish between here and heaven? Is there anything more important – for a Christian – to ask… and to answer? Life's biggest issue is to clarify – and, then resolve – our …
Fusion – A La Carte
April 16, 2012 Long, long ago – in an America far, far away – restaurants served American food. I had my family with me last week – for Easter Break – and we were far enough away from home that we were Yelp-dependent at a few mealtimes. With the “$$” limitation (I didn't …
But God…
April 9, 2012 Too frequently, I find myself defined by my pathology; sometimes, I think I’m pathetic. Voices that have been dead for decades still echo in my mind… when it’s quiet all around me. Does that ever happen to you? Some phrases haunt me; here's one I heard from the …
A Missional Community
April 2, 2012 Getting started: Have you noticed how my Monday missive is “different?” It comes, in part, from my desire to offer something different to you on Monday than the rest of the incessant intrusions – portrayed as “news” – that are jamming their way into your e-box. The commitment: Point of …
The Clock is Ticking
March 26, 2012 The clock’s ticking; can you hear it? At midnight tonight, you’ll only have 432,000 “ticks” left until the end of the first quarter of 2012. Midnight Sunday marks the moment of truth, for many… In the Magic Kingdom of Corporate Life, time is punctuated on a fiscal clock. …
Get a Room
March 19, 2012 “Why don’t you get a room?” If you weren’t a student of the culture, you might not get the implications of that expression of disdain, most often pointed toward a couple who are caught with excessive PDA (that’s Public Display of Affection!). It could have been the motto …
Revealed or Eternally Blessed
March 12, 2012 Where is “Orange County?” That would be a killer question on a game show; the answers would be all over the map. Reason: because Orange County is all over the map! New York, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Texas, Indiana and California would all be right answers. The Real …
A French Chateau for Two in Texas
March 5, 2012 Would you allow me a little bit of confession? I’ve heard it’s good for the soul. You can tell a professional fisherman by the brief time it takes him to clean his catch. For the casual recreational fisherman, it’s like a high school biology exercise to perform the …
To Be Rich and Powerful
February 27, 2012 Dear Marketplace Friend, Equality is a magnanimous objective; no one would risk being named as the one who wants to deny equality among people, in American culture or politics. In fact, no famous person would expect to retain their status unless they signed the petition calling for equality… right? …
Why God Wrote His Book
Dear Marketplace Friend, With the disappearance – or, the decline – of most local newspapers, the Wall Street Journal has been tasked with the assignment to become more than an office rag for the One Percenters. In publication since 1889, it is America’s largest circulation daily paper. The Saturday/weekend edition moves to broader …
Make Every Day the Big Day
February 13, 2012 “So… are you ready for the Big Day?” Nothing could be more impossible to sort-out, without context. What – exactly – is the “Big Day?” If you’re Rick Santorum, it was last Tuesday, when his David v. Goliath(s) challenge landed a sling stone in the forehead …
Super Bowl Sunday
February 6, 2012 “So, who are you ‘for?’” It’s 2012, and that question is bouncing around regarding presidential politics, but for the last two weeks – unless you were in Florida or Nevada – Super Bowl trumped Super Tuesday as the context. I’ve been all over the country leading local Master’s …
Passive Reader to Active Engager
We call this weekly piece the Point of View. At least, that’s what we call it. But, when I run into the folks who read it, they often say, “Hey, I read about that in your newsletter!” Newsletter? (“A bulletin issued periodically to the members of a society, business or organization.”) Don’t really care what …
This may be your year
January 16, 2012 This may be “your year.” Many religions have written – or, unwritten – bucket lists for pilgrims. For Muslims, it’s a trip to Mecca. Catholics long to stand in St. Peter’s Square, in Rome. Calvinist Protestants book a trip to Geneva; Jews head for the Wailing Wall. There’s something about …
The next few weeks
January 9, 2012 The next few weeks may be the most important among all of the remaining weeks of 2012. Allow me to make my case: we have an almost unconscious willingness – between the post-holiday back-to-work moment and Super Bowl weekend – to consider new designs and directions in the year that …
Are you ready for 2012?
January 2, 2012 Dear Marketplace Friend, Welcome to 2012! According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, the Recession began in December of 2007; the same 90-year-old, independent, non-profit, non-partisan group declared the Recession “over” in June of 2009. So, here we are, 30 months into the recovery; feeling better, yet? …
Closing Down Christmas
December 26, 2011 Breathe deeply; cool your jets; calm yourself: it’s almost over. Whether yesterday was defined by tinsel or tension, the ribbons and wrapping are jammed in the recycle bin, the leftovers are in the fridge… and your attention can now turn to the after-agendas. It’s a standard reading among …
Kim and Chris (and Christmas)
December 19, 2011 A big week ahead. Two notable deaths, and one notable birth; how do you handle those inevitabilities while trying to celebrate “the holidays?” Hold the presses for the obituary page. The world lost two icons within the space of days. Kim Jong II – the dictator/god of North …
Ending 2011
December 12, 2011 Not much left of 2011, is there? We’re both pushed – you and I – to make some pretty big things happen between now and the time the crowd cheers the end of ’11 and the start of ’12. Some of our to-do is personal – the paraphernalia …
Issachar Summit
December 5, 2011 America is a unique-in-history culture; that’s an indisputable reality. One of the distinctions of our niche in civilization is the imprint made on each generation by the prime-time television that serves as an electronic distraction while mom makes dinner. Our firstborn joined the household census in …
Because you are
November 28, 2011 Can you feel it? The trajectory of the cultural flow has made the full-on, year-end shift. We’ve passed the Thanksgiving marker; we’re now headed for Christmas. In an economic climate dependent on the recovery of consumer confidence and spending, retail sales will tell the tale of recovery… But, …
Thanksgiving 2011
November 21, 2011 Lots to do this week. At the office, you’ve got to pull a rabbit out of the hat: it’s the holiday magic, to get a week’s worth of work done in three days, so you can leave Wednesday for the “long weekend.” At home, you’ve got to make room for …
The Annual Window of Opportunity
November 14, 2011 It’s almost a religious appeal; the only clue that it is not is the fact that they’re buying full-page color ads in major newspapers, nationally (religious movements cannot write that kind of check). Expect to see it prominently positioned, in a periodical near you… The scene is festive; …