Raising the Bar

For your consideration…

Hmmm…another life story was presented as an example of today’s message.

I was a part of a joint venture that the company I worked for started up. There was a very personable minority partner that worked on-site with me. At one point I noticed some “irregularities.” As I ferreted it out, I discovered that this partner had secretly renegotiated some contracts so that he could get kickbacks. Before I went to my management, I went to this partner with irrefutable evidence. Of course, I dreaded this meeting but knew I had to do this and try to get it taken care of. My thought was that the partnership was important and if I could right the “wrong” there would not be a need for any further action. When I presented the evidence, I expected the partner to be embarrassed and regretful. He was none of those. He was calm, humored even. He did not offer to right the wrong and did not care if I took the issue to my management. His words to me were very close to this, “Chris, this is simply how business is done. This is a normal business practice.” It became clear to me that he indeed believed that corporate and political America was corrupt. Corrupt being my word his would be “normal business practice” and when I took this to my management, they would tell me the same thing.

That is the first point of today’s message. We have been having messages about paying attention to our “gut.” And sometimes it is hard to get a good read. That brings us to the first point of today’s message. Sometimes it is hard to get a good read because the person(s) we are dealing with do not share our values. They simply do not think they are doing anything wrong. We do not look at people, the world, the same way.

That brings us to the second part of today’s message. The more people who engage in an activity does not automatically establish the norm. Just because everyone is doing something does not make it right. We have probably all heard about public schools ‘lowering the bar” so that more children can succeed. The same goes for politicians, behaviors, family and friend relationships, business dealings, etc.

Lowering the bar is just smoke and mirrors. Everyone loses when we do this. Our message today reminds us that we should always be raising the bar in our lives both personally and publicly. We should always set high goals and expect the highest outcome for our highest good and the highest good of all.

That is the HOPE. And so it is.

Bit by bit, piece by piece, HOPE by HOPE action steps anyone can take…

-Affirm…“I am loved.”

-Meditate/pray…ask…”What is my next step for my highest good and the highest good of all?”

-Drink lots of water.

-Get outdoors and take in at least 10 deep breaths.

-Set the bar high in all things.

What made me smile yesterday…

-My first experience with a scrap metal yard.

-Seeing Mac, my granddaughter. I took her Gabriel’s subs for her and her roommate and a hairdryer.

-Finally, we secured our winter vacation rental. Sadly, the one we have had for a year had to cancel due to hurricane damage.

-A beautiful thank you card from Pat and Natalya.

-Finished a book.

Love, Blessings, and Gratitude,

Rev. Chris