@HomewithDean - Homily 11/15 - a podcast by KFI AM 640 (KFI-AM)

I’ve been thinking about the pandemic and the long year behind us and how right now we all
wish this thing was over but instead—as the experts have predicted all along—it looks like we’re
moving into the thick of it.

This at a time when more than ever we want to gather together and embrace one another. As
the song says, “Faithful friends who are dear to us. Gather near to us once more.” It’s frustrating
when you’re being told the very thing you want to do, the very thing you need to do, is the one
thing you shouldn’t do.

I’ve been thinking about the pandemic and I’ve seen three kinds of responses to it. There are
those who simply ignore it and pretend it doesn’t exist. They break every rule and regardless of
whether they themselves end up paying the price for, someone unfortunate enough to be
around them probably will. These folks are why we are where we are with it right now. And
they’re costing us all a lot. Then there are those who’ve allowed the crisis to completely
overwhelm them. They’ve surrendered and shut down which, in my view, is equally dangerous
not to mention far more depressing. They are costing themselves a lot right now.
But what encourages me is the third kind of response. Those who have chosen to soberly
respect the truth of the situation but see its necessary constraints not as a reason to surrender
but as a challenge to get creative. These are the folks who turn lemons into lemonade. The folks
who believe that life is not defined by what happens to you but by how you choose to respond to
what happens to you.

In every crisis there are reactors and responders. As if you didn’t already know … I will throw
my hat in with the responders every time.

A good part of this in me comes from being an artist, a creator, a designer, and a builder of
things because the nature of that work means I’m never very far away from the truth that life is
quite literally what you make it to be. To create, to design, to build, are all acts of intention. One
of my great design mentors, a Texan named Jim Shaw, once impressed upon me the power of
that intention when he said, “Son, we’re going to design homes better than the other guys
because we’re not going to forget that we aren’t design homes. We are designing people’s lives.
Everything from how they’re going to celebrate the most important moments to how they feel
when they get up to get a drink of water in the middle of the night.” I miss Jim dearly.
That was a formative moment. And it’s those kinds of truths passed on to me that I do my best
now to pass on to you. Design is powerful because intention is powerful. Intention is not a
reaction to life, it’s a response.

So the message is simple. The best lives, the most meaningful lives, the fullest lives, the most
beautiful lives don’t just happen by accident. They are filled with and shaped by intention. They
are designed. So when life hands you difficulty, don’t foolishly ignore it but also don’t surrender
to it. Set your intention and design a response.

The Sharps intend to wring every bit of joy we can out of this holiday season. That is our intent.
It’s why the lights are already up on the house. We ordinarily never decorate this early but this is
no ordinary year. So we’ve responded and set our intent. We will be safe. We will honor
constraints, but we will use those constraints to fuel our creativity and despite this crisis we will
make moments.

I don’t know what your plans for the holidays are, but I do hope you have a plan. Because—this
year especially—the holidays aren’t going to just happen unless you make them happen.
So … make them happen. Set your intent, stay safe, but get creative with your constraints, and
then get busy building yourself a beautiful life.

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