This weekend Molly and I were debating prayer. I’ve always wondered how exactly prayer works. There are many complexities to deal with. My chief questions are:

• What happens if one person prays for one thing while someone else prays for the exact opposite?
• Doesn’t God know what’s best for all of us?
• Does he really need direction from me?

Abraham Lincoln summed up the dilemma best in his famous second inaugural address when discussing the north and south

Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God’s assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men’s faces; but let us judge not that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered; that of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has his own purposes. . . . Fondly do we hope–fervently do we pray–that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said “the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether”

These are tough questions, but I like how Lincoln ends it by basically saying I don’t understand it, but I’ll trust that god knows what’s going on. And it’s clear that in most spiritual traditions, we are commanded to pray in some way.

It’s not the most satisfying answer, but sometimes you just have to accept that you can’t know everything. I don’t know how the atomic bomb works, but I’ve seen the terrifying results.

I think prayer is that way too. I don’t really understand the theology behind it, but you only have to look at the changed lives of so many praying people to see the positive results. Maybe prayer is more to help us than to help God?

Everyone has something in life that makes them happy and helps them unwind. Some people like partying and hanging out with friends. Others would rather recharge when they’re not around people. I fall into this latter category, and the best way for me to recharge is going to the coffee shop with a stack of books!

I typically have a large “to be read” pile and am usually working on 3 or 4 books at once. I don’t really stick to any genre though much of my reading lately is non-fiction and falls into the business or history categories.

I get a lot of use out of my library card, and lately I’ve even been reading electronically on an amazon kindle. My daily reading habits are pretty similar to Michael Hyatt’s (Blogger and CEO of a publishing company).

I read a lot, but I don’t waste my time on bad books. If I start a book and determine that it’s no good, I have no problem stopping immediately. I also don’t have a problem with skimming books if they are repetitive. I get through a lot of books this way.

Some are entertaining and I learn a little bit from others, but the best books are those that make a lasting change in my life. I’ve collected my favorites in a list so I present to you the 10 books that will change your life!

Atlas Shrugged: Explains Ayn Rand’s theory of objectivism through a fictional story. It is a tribute to those who work hard and what they can accomplish in the world.

Mere Christianity: Taught me that you can be a Christian and still be intellectually honest with yourself. Lewis’ work is a joy to read and deeply think through.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Covey’s book helped me find balance in my life and look at the big picture.

How to Win Friends and Influence People: Dale Carnegie’s classic book with a misleading name, will help you be a better person and is really about listening and being genuinely interested in others.

Getting Things Done: While Covey’s book focuses on the book picture, Allen’s book will help you get things done more efficiently on a daily basis.

Three Cups of Tea: Tells an amazing story of what one man can do to change the world for the better. It will inspire you to make a difference no matter how small it seems or how hard the task.

Eat, Drink and Be Healthy: A well-researched book by a Harvard MD that cuts through all the diet fads with clear evidence of what is the most healthy way to eat.  It changed the way that I eat for the better.

Man’s Search for Meaning: Told in two parts, it is first the amazing story of a holocaust survivor and second how a person can find meaning in their life even in the most troubling circumstances.

Free to Choose: Explains how economic freedom and societal freedom go hand in had, and how government intervention usually leads to problems. Strongly influenced my libertarian political beliefs.

Your Money or Your Life: Helps you realize that you are trading your life for your possessions by breaking down your possessions into how much of your life it took to get them. Will definitely make you think before embarking on that next impulse purchase.

I’d love to hear about any books have significantly impacted others. Also, what books do you have to recommend to me?

We read to know we are not alone
-CS Lewis

I think everyone has that one thing that brings them back to being a kid again. For many people, it’s a specific song or a type of food.  For others, it’s an old friend or TV show.

For me, it’s Transformers the Movie (the original 1986 cartoon — not the ruinous michael bay version).

We rented the 20th anniversary version this weekend and it was fascinating to see my 8 year old son loving a movie that I loved when I was his age. I think for a certain segment of the population, watching that movie will always take them back to being a kid.

There was something about that original movie and cartoon series that really resonated with me and many others. In many ways it’s better than current movies. In fact, slate had an insightful article about how it’s better than the new transformers movie:

Bay’s new Transformers is fun in its own goofy way, and there are enough sops to the fanboys that most will go home happy. Peter Cullen reprises his role as the voice of Optimus Prime, and the screenwriters manage not one but two invocations of the immortal phrase “more than meets the eye.” But there’s nothing even approaching the original’s narrative depth. The good guys beat the bad guys, and no one we care about is harmed in the process—the movie hasn’t succeeded in making us care about anyone.

As the slate article goes on to describe, Bay cheapens the movie by adding in sex and meaningless violence:

The high-octane violence and PG-13 attentions lavished on Megan Fox‘s torso may attract some new young fans, but in the end Bay’s Transformers feels timid compared with the 1985 version.

Though to be fair, there was no shortage of violence in the original movie. In fact, many of the original characters (often called Gen 1 in TF fanboy lingo) die in the movie. When I first saw that movie as a kid, it was heartbreaking to see characters that I’d grown up with and watched everyday on TV die on the big screen.

The hardest death to see was, of course, Optimus Prime. He was the leader of the autobots and in many ways the “John Wayne” of my generation.  He was the ultimate example of a leader and always took the high ground.  He led by example and sacrificed himself to further the noble goals of the autobots. His classic quote is:

Freedom is the right of all sentient beings.

It was also shocking that the original cartoon movie the animated characters actually used profanity. How surreal to see Transformers and their human friends dropping the s-bomb!

In many ways, the original cartoon series was so perfect and harmless with its clearcut good vs evil that it reflected the blissfulness of youth. The cartoon movie, with it’s death and profanity, started to pull those of us 9-year kids toward adulthood by showing more of what the real world is like — definitely a transforming experience.

There is one thing we can say for certain about our next president — he will be left-handed! Both Obama and McCain are southpaws.

In fact, John Edwards, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Ross Perot and George W Bush are lefties as well. According to some, Ronald Reagan is also left-handed (not sure exactly how that point could be under debate)…

I’m glad to see my lefty brethren making such a good showing in recent presidents and candidates. So, now the question is what makes lefties so special? For that, we turn to the experts quoted in Wikipedia:

In his book Right-Hand, Left-Hand,Chris McManus of University College London argues that the proportion of left-handers is rising and left-handed people as a group have historically produced an above-average quota of high achievers. He says that left-handers’ brains are structured differently in a way that widens their range of abilities, and the genes that determine left-handedness also govern development of the language centers of the brain.

So it’s all about that left-handed brain structure! Another study has a different take:

One theory divides left- and right-handed thinkers into two camps: visual simultaneous vs. linear sequential. According to this theory, right-handed people are thought to process information using a “linear sequential” method in which one thread must complete its processing before the next thread can be started. Left-handed persons are thought to process information using a “visual simultaneous” method in which several threads can be processed simultaneously.

Aha! It’s that ability to multitask that trumps those rotten righties. Whatever it is, at least that makes up a little bit for forcing us to use right-handed scissors for so long.

Lastly, don’t forget to suck up to your favorite lefty this Aug 13th on left-handed day. Thank goodness we finally got our own day! I was feeling so oppressed.

I’ve often struggled with perfectionism. In fact, I never used to blog because I was always trying to write the “perfect” blog on the “perfect” topic so at the end of the day I wouldn’t publish anything.

Perfectionism can be useful to help ensure quality, but at some point you start to face diminishing returns. At some point, you are starting to waste time tweaking the minute details. And you just have to say that a project is good enough and call it finished.

Without that ability, projects don’t get done or even worse they don’t get started. Timeboxing is one of the most powerful techniques for fighting perfectionism.

Basically you give yourself a specific slice of time to complete an activity. For example, take thirty minutes to clean the kitchen and you will stop at the end. Maybe you will come back to it later, but at least you will have moved the ball forward today.

The key is that nothing is this world is ever perfect, so we should strive for excellence everyday (hmm…sounds like a good blog title) rather than perfection!

The perfect is the enemy of the good.
-Voltaire