Three's Company

ONE

I walked past the downtown McDonalds on 2nd and Pine. The scene in front of me unfolded in fury. A man was yelling at a woman.

"Give me back my daughter! Bitch!"

The woman... "No you &*$#(*&" [too crass for this blog]

"I don't want your white boy taking care of my daughter bitch!! Give me back my daughter!!"

And the woman and man tried to get at each other. Hurt and anger poured on the sidewalk around them. Their respective friends tried, without success, to restrain them. And when the seattle cops came and broke up the scene, I felt myself wondering... who is this daughter? Who is this "white man" and why is he now in the picture? And why can't the real father see his daughter? Why is life so hard for some people and so easy for others? It just doesn't seem fair.

TWO

I don't profess to be a great cook and its a good thing I don't. You see, I put my leftover quesadilla in the toaster oven at my work. I turned it on to bake at 350 and returned to my office to complete an email. Literally like 6 minutes later, I walked down to get my quesadilla and my coworker is there panting. Apparently moments ago my quesadilla caused the toaster over to explode in flames and started a fire. She was walking by and quickly started dousing it out with water and reached success moments before I reached her. Black smoke billowed everywhere. I am SO thankful that the fire alarm didn't go off... even though our office and loby (six floors below) smelled like burnt grease for the rest of the day... and the next morning. Blah. Sooooo embarrassing. I have NO idea what happened. I'm claiming fault on the toaster oven... its got to have some issues. That's my story and I'm sticking with it.

THREE

Halloween. Cowboy boots. Cowboy hat. Cap gun. Bandana. Stick horse. Leather vest. Money bag. Bandit running from the sheriff.

If that isn't awesome, I don't know what is.

All it takes is one hang up and the will not to call back

I saw a woman bawling on the bus this morning. She was in utter despair, talking to some guy on the phone. Snot dripped out of her nose, tears streaked mascara down her cheeks. Her bony frame revealed she was too skinny. And then I heard "cat food." And something about a "lost wallet."

As it went, the woman somehow lost her wallet and didn't have money to buy cat food. And the man on the other line screamed at her. Called her terrible names. Belittled her ability to do anything right.

And her emotions ran rampant, unleashing a flood of tears as the lie of her unloveliness drew deeper and deeper into her heart.

She called him a jerk. Hung up on him. Called him back. Said sorry. Called him a jerk again. Hung up on him again. And called him back again. The cycle persisted.

All because of a lost wallet and cat food.

What the VP of Coca-Cola Taught Me

Yesterday I went to an event at my church where Bonnie Wurzbacher, Vice President of Coca-Cola, came and spoke on "Finding Meaning in Your Work." It was truly inspirational and has changed many of my ideas about business.

For one, as a Christian, business seems so self-righteous... the goal is to make money. It just seems so greedy. In fact, that is one of the main reasons why I pushed against the idea of going into business. But, as always, God had different plans for my life, and here I find myself smack dab in the midst of marketing, advertising and selling... essentially motivating people to choose our service over the competition. But I love it. And in the past, my heart has struggled with the question... does providing Digital TV, broadband Internet and Digital Phone over an advanced fiber optic infrastructure really have meaning? Or is this just something that I do?

But, listen to what Bonnie has to say about business...

The role of business in God's kingdom is to advance the economic well-being of communities around the world, and as the only source of wealth creation, to enable every social, civic and spiritual institution to exist.

- Bonnie Wurzbacher

Wow! Essentially, without business, every other institution in this world would cease to exist... because they all rely on business for their wealth creation. Therefore, without business, say goodbye to churches. Say goodbye to non-profits, government, travel, sports, even aspects of your social life. Isn't that incredible?! I have never thought of business in that sense. But, it's true.

In fact, Bonnie spoke about how business is a calling in one's life. It requires the ability to do the job ("can do") the enjoyment of doing the job ("want to") and the discernment that this is where God wants you ("led to"). I've never really thought of business as a calling. I mean, I've heard of people getting called to... say, Africa. Or Vietnam. But business? Well, why not?

As discussed above, without business, every institution would pretty much cease to exist. Therefore, why wouldn't God place a calling on individuals to go into business and not only be an ethical part of the solution, but also be people capable of continuing to create wealth so that every other institution will continue to flourish and prosper as well? Genesis 1:27-28 - sometimes called the cultural mandate - calls us to be fruitful, fill the earth and subdue it... or essentially, create cultures and build civilizations. And that's ultimately what business advocates and creates room for. Business functions to build and support cultures and civilizations so that they continue to grow and flourish. Now that's what I call meaningful!

In addition, I learned that it is important to view our jobs with a macro (not micro) perspective.

For example, I create advertising materials for my company. I could sit down one morning and be discouraged that I'm simply creating another direct mail piece... again... that may only irritate and possibly discourage a potential customer from choosing our service. I mean, it's only the Internet. Right?

OR

I can sit down every day and remember that by promoting our services, I am essentially helping people all over the nation remain connected with each other and information around the world that will help them grow in meaningful relationships with one another. Relationships are important. In fact, I would argue that they are the most important thing in this world and what we were primarily created for: to have relationship with our God and each other. Therefore, my job allows me to positively impact and provide a platform in which people can connect all around the world through television (where people collect information and learn about cultures around the world), Digital Phone (allowing people to connect with one another and build relationships through continued communication) and the Internet (where people can remain connected with each other in real time through email, social networks and the like as well as the ability to find useful information to help them grow and reach their goals).

Those two perspectives are completely different. There's a big "who cares?" in the first, but much meaning and purpose in the other.

Do you lend micro or macro thinking to your job? Do you see business as a calling? I, for one, am beginning to.

Thank you, Bonnie Wurzbacher, for you words of wisdom yesterday.