Psalm 31: 9-15 says: " Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; my eye is wasted from grief; my soul and my body also.  For my life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my iniquity, and my bones waste away.  Because of all my adversaries I have become a reproach, especially to my neighbors, and an object of dread to my acquaintances; those who see me in the street flee from me.  I have been forgotten like one who is dead; I have become like a broken vessel.  For I hear the whispering of many -- terror on every side! -- as they scheme together against me, as they plot to take my life.  But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, 'You are my God.'   My times are in your hands; rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!" There may have been many times where this prayer lifted up by King David has been on the hearts, tongues, and minds of a lot of us.  Especially in today's social, cultural...

Proverbs 24:16 says, "But the righteous falls sevens times and rises again" There is a commentary on this verse that states: "Failure is never final.  Most leaders will tell you failure is just another step towards success.  Inventory Thomas Edison, when asked about how he endured so many failures while creating what would become the lightbulb, he said, "I have not failed, I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.  Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up." The trick is to not give up or give in.  We all will get knocked down.  We don't have perfect line of sight.  Our opinion isn't always right.  We will believe strongly about the wrong things.  What will you do with your failures?  Flounder or flourish? This reminds me of a story about a farmer and it goes like this: "One day a farmer's horse runs away and his friends come by and say, 'Bad luck your horse runnin...

Throughout history, man has always been curious about the world and how it works.  We've asked endless questions about nature, biology, philosophy.  We explore new horizons, realms, and spaces.  We've discovered many amazing and astonishing things.  But for all we learn, experience, and create, we all come to the same inevitable questions: Where did we come from? Why are are we here? How should we live our lives? Where are we ultimately going? These consequential questions have occupied the minds of some of the greatest thinkers of history.  These questions can be boiled down to four descriptors: Origin Meaning Morality Destiny It doesn't take much to have these words or questions resonate with you personally.  I mean, who hasn't had the thought of "What am I even doing here?", or, "Where the heck am I going and what is my purpose, my meaning to this life of mine?"  These are all monumental questions, for which the answers undergird the very essence ...