Hilary Clinton at Saddleback AIDS Conference November 29, 2007

Today Hilary Clinton spoke at Saddleback’s Global Summit on AIDS and the CHURCH. She was there to participate in a session called “Conversations with Global Leadership” to discuss the government’s role in fighting HIV/AIDS.

Sitting in the front row I got an unfettered view to listen without being distracted by room full of media. There were three points to her speech - to prove that she is a woman of faith, that if elected will raise funds to fight HIV/AIDS globally and how we need to fight for women’s rights around the world.

Her speech writer did their job to try and make her fit in with the Evangelical audience peppering her talk with Scripture, church jargon and a few stories of how she has seen the effects of AIDS first-hand.

I just didn’t buy it. It was a politically-correct, canned speech. It had zero vulnerability. There was nothing emotional about it. We’re talking about children dying, AIDS orphans, sex-trafficking, a generation of people wiped out in Africa and she was cold, calculated and aloof. All she did was spew statistics at us and general promises to do something about it. This was her chance to really connect with an audience and instead it was just a routine political stop.

Five other presidential candidates, Obama, Huckabee, McCain, Romney and Edwards also sent in speeches on AIDS policy. With Romney, Obama, Huckabee and Edwards, in their five minute, video-taped messages you could actually connect with them. They had passion. They were human. I didn’t agree with everything they said but it was still more authentic somehow. McCain just looked and sounded crazy.

Hilary Clinton was disappointing. I don’t know what I was expecting. I guess I was hoping she’d be more human in person, but she wasn’t. I wanted to be moved by her, to be incited to action. I hoped see a glimpse of greatness, that intangible essence necessary to be a global presence. She is not a charismatic speaker or leader. Her appearance today was empty and ultimately unnecessary.

It’s interesting that many are saying that she wooed the Evangelical audience. I wouldn’t necessarilyy agree. Just because we were polite and applauded doesn’t mean anyone was swayed. You can’t confuse respect for a former first lady and senator with endorsement and political affiliation. Maybe the media just isn’t used to seeing Christians listen to someone with such a dissenting view to theirs. Maybe we, as an audience, are helping to change the rampant view that all Christians do is boycott and bomb clinics. Who knows.

The goal of the Global Summit on HIV/AIDS and the CHURCH is to discuss the role the church can play in fighting the global pandemic that is often ignored in the church today.

Enchanted [2007] November 25, 2007

All that is good and holy about fairy tales celebrated with real-life McDreamyness in Disney’s new half-animated, half real life tale of true love.

Giselle [Amy Adams], a kind, pure, naive, picturesque princess-in-the-making is in the woods with her animal friends singing while she waits for her one true love. The evil Queen [Susan Sarandon] is determined not to let her handsome prince of a stepson [James Marsden] find a wife because she doesn’t want to lose power. Of course they meet anyway, fall in love and are to be married, all in a day.

To prevent the loss of power the evil Queen pushes her down the wishing well into another world where no one lives happily ever after, modern day New York. In this new wonderland Giselle finds Robert, a lawyer who lives in the world of reason and logic, to help her, the innocent who makes clothes out of curtains and cleans with the help of mice, pigeons and squirrels, navigate this brave new place.

Her prince, determined to find and rescue her, goes to New York, and is willing to slay dragons (a bus) to make her his wife. But will the evil Queen vanquish the happy couple with the help of her trusty sidekick? Will Giselle lose her naivete and discover that true love takes more than a song?

This fun new Disney move pays homage to all of the fairy tales that come before it. It is absolutely delicious. I loved it. Amy Adams encapsulates the charm, sweetness, and sincerity required of a Disney princess. She isn’t satirical or cheeky instead she plays her authentically and with heart. James Marsden embodies his clod-hopping prince with charming arrogance. They make the movie.

I think I loved this movie even more because I got to see it at El Capitan with the bonus of the Disney Enchanted Experience. It was AWESOME!

Personal Point of Happiness November 15, 2007

I recently read an article in Psychology Today and about a study conducted in Germany to determine life satisfaction levels.

They studied 24,000 people both married and single and discovered that after either a negative or positive event in our lives we all return to a previously determined “personal point of happiness.” Or a level of life satisfaction that existed before said event.

So regardless of the change, good or bad, that happens in your life such as a death, wedding, birth of a child, job change, move, etc you will return to your prior level of contentment. No great cataclismic event has the ability to rob us completely of our joy nor is it able to sustain long-lasting happiness.

I think this premise is true. I know I hope that if I just lose some weight, change jobs, move to a new town, get married, find new friends, have a baby or WHATEVER life will be better. Searching for contentment from an external event is a fruitless effort. Because regardless of where we go or who we know we’re dragging along all of our issues with us. We have to deal with what holds us back from living an abundant life first then we can gain a greater level of contentment with life regardless of what we have. It is when we are fully free to engage in life around us that we will be most content.

So what gets in the way - unforgiveness, resentment, fear, anger, guilt, shame - all threaten to rob us of our joy. They zap our energy, distract us, and slowly erode our souls. I have been working on these things and am amazed at how much more free I am to enjoy life. I would say that my “personal point of happiness” is much higher than it was a few years ago and it really has nothing to do with me.

It all boils down to my relationship with God. When I realize that my life is part of a much bigger story and that God is working specifically in my life to contribute to it life gets really simple, focused and significant. The hard part is the surrender, the ultimate trust that God does have a plan for my life and is working for my good even when I don’t see it.

Life continues to be mystifying, ridiculous, and crazy sometimes but overall I am happy. I am surrounded by amazing friends who teach me, love me, embrace me, correct me and challenge me all the time. It is a great community. Sometimes I get so focused on the day-to-day that I forget to stop and think about how far God has brought me in the last couple of years.

I think God just smiles at me a lot and proverbially pats me on the head.

Lessons from a Lizard November 5, 2007

I have been quite accident prone lately, so the other day as I was carrying a big box from my house to the car I kept looking down at the sidewalk trying to get my bearings around it and avoid the puddles on the sidewalk created by the sprinklers. It was an awkward juggle of the box, my purse and computer bag, because I really couldn’t see much beyond the box.

On one of my glances down I noticed that there was a lizard frozen right in the middle of the sidewalk. He probably heard me coming and using all of his self-protection mechanisms became the color of the sidewalk, stopping dead in his tracks. He was so well hidden that I could have easily stepped on him, killing him, which is ironic since that is why he was hiding, to be safe.

I couldn’t shake the image of that lizard frozen in the middle of the sidewalk all day. As I kept thinking about it I realized how often I am like that lizard. When afraid I tend to freeze, hide and get in a rut. I don’t move. Even if staying put means I might be squished by circumstance. My fear paralyzes me. I’m using my self-defense mechanisms to protect myself not realizing in the end being in survival mode might kill me.

I don’t want to blend in. I don’t want to hide. I don’t want to be paralyzed. I think it’s as we keep moving that faith is built. That is how we trust and depend on God rather than ourselves. It is in the quiet panic as we step out that we draw closer to God.

I have to keep moving, forever trusting in the one bigger than me to protect me, instead of protecting myself.

Issues November 3, 2007

I recently heard:

It’s one thing to be aware of your issues and quite another to do something about them.

Isn’t that the truth.