Damian Gerke :: Feeds
November 19, 2008
The Advent Conspiracy
It’s funny what happens when things get tight financially. You start really thinking about the value of money, instead of just spending it. Today alone, two different people have told me — unprompted — that they were cutting back, and not being wasteful with money and purchasing gifts they really didn’t need. If that strikes a chord [...]
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November 11, 2008
Christmas Commercials
Wednesday, November 5th. This was the day that I saw my first Christmas commercial of the holiday season. It’s that time of year again. Alas, it feels like that time of year comes earlier and earlier as the years pass. I could be cynical, and say that I saw my first holiday commercial. But I don’t want [...]
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October 16, 2008
Facing Fear, Part 20
The Solution to Fear There is a bottom line to fear. There’s a lot to say about fear. This is part 20 in the series, after all. No doubt, fear is complex and multifaceted. For being so intimidating, though, fear has an Achilles heel. A Waterloo. In fact, when you get right down to it the solution to [...]
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September 20, 2008
An Artist’s Quandary
If art is created in the forest and there’s no one around to read it, was there really an artist? For me, waking in the morning is a lot like fishing, except I don’t get bait-juice on my hands. My ritual is to cast my first conscious thoughts in the direction of thankfulness. I thank God [...]
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September 01, 2008
Facing Fear, Part 19
Fear’s Last Stand “But … I am afraid!” Just because I know the three great fears and the half-truths they represent, it doesn’t make them go away. Wormtongue still has a chair at my table, and (as far as I can understand) he always will this side of eternity. There are times when fear grips me, someplace deep [...]
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August 05, 2008
Facing Fear, Part 18
“Why Are You Afraid?” Fear is a normal human experience, but it’s not supposed to be. It may surprise you to realize that nowhere do the gospels ever say that Jesus was afraid. Anguished? Yes. Grieved to the point of death? Yes. Afraid? No. This may be demoralizing, if you see it as yet another unattainable expectation of perfection. But [...]
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July 29, 2008
Facing Fear, Part 17
Fear and Our Faith Can you trust what you believe? What do you think of when you hear the word believe? How would you describe the concept to someone else? Make a short list in your head of words or phrases you would associate with believe. Now, if you had to describe another word — trust — what [...]
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July 04, 2008
Traveling Reflections
Last month I was traveling for 22 days out of 30. Uh, … can someone tell me what time it is? 22 out of 30 days — 73.3% of the month. Traveling this much has been an unusual experience for me. As I think back on the month that flew by (literally), several observations about the [...]
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June 07, 2008
Humbly Amazed
Parenting has a way of humbling you … and amazing you! I’m writing this post from a Starbucks just off of Central Park, in New York. We’re here for my daughter Hannah to receive an award for a poem that she wrote. She had the privilege of walking across the stage at Carnegie Hall, along with [...]
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May 08, 2008
Facing Fear, Part 16
Fear of Submission (and each other) Submission and the dirty-word syndrome… “Submission is one of the qualities that makes an organization truly effective.” This is a statement from a seminar that I conduct with companies and organizations called Creating High-Capacity Culture. It’s almost guaranteed to get a response. “Submission” has a dirty-word feel to it. It is provocative. It brings so many [...]
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April 12, 2008
Facing Fear, Part 15
Fear of Submission (and God) (cont’d) Yearning for bankruptcy? “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom,” Jesus says (Matthew 5.3). It’s a Christianized rags-to-riches, trading-places promise that calls us to willingly discard every penny of self-righteousness that we have in our spirit. It also blows most of our religious paradigms right out of the water. Personally, [...]
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April 11, 2008
Profoundly Winter, a Response
Note: This is a response by Matt Horan to an earlier post I had written, Profoundly Winter. I thought it significant enough that it would lose its impact if left in a response box, so I’m including it here as a separate article. Please refer back to Profoundly Winter for context for Matt’s response. Thanks to [...]
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March 25, 2008
Profoundly Winter
Words have not come easy for me lately. At first I thought it was writer’s block, that dreaded contagion that prevents the words from forming in writers’ heads. But after a while I realized it was more than that. I’ve had plenty of words, they’ve just all been inadequate. The reason behind it all, as best [...]
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February 15, 2008
Facing Fear, Part 14
Fear of Submission (and God) Am I comfortable not being God … really? If I were king… When my history is finally written, I wonder in how many of my days will I have been found living out the lyrics to a Robert Earl Keen song, “If I were King of this ol’ crazy world, I’m tellin’ you there’d [...]
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December 29, 2007
Facing Fear, Part 13
Fear of Submission (cont’d) There is one great casualty of our lack of submission: Trust. The Trust-Killer There is a bridge in Tampa Bay called the Sunshine Skyway. It is a 175-foot high suspension bridge over the main shipping channel. To cross it in windy conditions or during one of our famous Florida thunderstorms can be really dicey. Getting [...]
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December 23, 2007
In Tribute to Maryellen
My Mom — Maryellen Gerke — passed away on December 5th, 2007, after a long and fruitful life. I had the opportunity to say a few words at her funeral, which I’d like to share with you. _______________ It’s impossible in just a few minutes to relay the relevance and impact of a person’s entire life. In [...]
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December 22, 2007
Facing Fear, Part 12
Fear of Submission The third great fear. Why Are We Afraid? Submission. What comes to your mind when you think of that word? I find that most of us view it negatively. Things like slavery, oppression or domination typically come to mind. Perhaps it’s the result of living in a culture so focused on liberty, where freedom is [...]
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December 03, 2007
Facing Fear, Part 11
Fear of Vulnerability (conclusion) All the great lies are really half-truths. That’s what makes them so believable. They begin with a kernel of truth, a plausible nugget that serves as bait. Once we take the bait, the hook gets set and the lie reels us on in. We saw it earlier with the fear of irrelevance. We aren’t perfect [...]
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November 10, 2007
Facing Fear, Part 10
Fear of Vulnerability (and Sex) One very “real world” arena that is particularly affected by our fear of vulnerability is sex. Men and Women are (Duh!) Different No other act in the human experience is more transparent than sexual intercourse. Sex is designed by God to be the ultimate in relational intimacy. It is a physical act in which [...]
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November 01, 2007
Facing Fear, Part 9
Fear of Vulnerability (cont’d again) How do we deal with vulnerability in the real world? Here are a few things to try to help you become more transparent … no, strike that: to help you love others more completely. Check these out… Own It It’s easy for me to see vulnerability as an external issue, someone else’s problem [...]
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