tail-lights

Apparently, our right-hand tail-light wasn't working. Not sure how long that had been the case, and it wasn't until someone followed us home one night (that we knew... not a stalker...) that we found out about it.


It's all fixed now, but I noticed a lot more tail-lights that were out on other people's cars in the days that followed (and was a lot more paranoid about the police potentially following me!) I did start to think about how that relates to our own lives, though, in terms of our "tail-lights" - the areas of our lives that we can't see, for whatever reason.

I need to have people who are "following me" (and not in the sense of me following Jesus - perhaps "tailing me" would be better), and helping me know when my tail-lights are out. There are certainly blind spots in all of our lives - parts of our character, attitudes, thought processes, belief systems - which we don't really know about. This can be because they're either so familiar to us because they are habits that have been around so long, or we're simply not aware of them due to lack of exposure to alternative ways of thinking. Without someone else pointing them out, we have no clue that they aren't working. I know I need to have people in my life who are telling me it's time to replace a globe or two, for my safety and the safety of others...

inspiration

Last weekend was a massive weekend in Canada. For those who didn't hear the shouting, Sidney Crosby scored a goal in overtime to win Canada the gold medal for the hockey at the Winter Olympics... and the crowd went wild (across the country).

I said to a lot of people that I'm not aware of another sport that a country expects or wants to win in as much as hockey at the winter games for Canada. Maybe basketball for the US at the summer games, or the World Cup for England (I'm leaving out sports like cricket that not many countries play), but there are very few. It's Canada's game, and they want to win it more than anything.

When Crosby scored the goal Sunday night, the response was incredible - this clip from Vancouver being an excellent example... That win, added to the record number of gold medals Canadians won at these games gave a swagger to a nation that has, for a long time, sat in the background, going about their business, trying not to get in the way.

It was fascinating, because even with the wins, there wasn't a hint of arrogance, just a genuine "we did really well" attitude, and an awareness that they do belong on the world stage - an even fuller self-confidence that they can do things their way and be successful... very successful.

The question for me is what does Canada do with it? Is it just euphoria that lasts for a few days/weeks, then goes back to normal or is it something that causes a genuine change in attitudes? If so, what does that look like? It'll be interesting to watch...