Its Always Going to be Something

by Don Harkey

One of my favorite movies is Joe Versus the Volcano with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. When I tell friends this, I get really odd looks. The movie probably doesn't land on many people's list of favorite movies and it is not at risk at being placed on any American Film Institute list. Most people I know who saw the movie thought it was mildly funny, but not very memorable. Yet it ranks among my favorites.

The movie is about a hypochondriac named Joe Banks. Joe works in a despicable job and has a despicable life. The movie does a great job of showing his pain as he goes through the motions surrounded by tragically lost people. One day, on one of his regular doctor visits, his doctor tells him that he is going to die from a rare condition called a "brain cloud". He only has a few months to live.

This new view on life gives Joe the courage to finally tell his horrible boss how he feels about him and ask out the girl in his office whom he has always liked (who is also very lost and is one of 3 characters in the movie played by Meg Ryan). Joe goes home, unsure what to do next, when he gets visited by an eccentric old millionaire. The man has heard about Joe's condition and wants to offer him a chance to be a hero. He is to travel to an island of Waponi Wu and serve as a sacrifice to the island natives by jumping into the islands volcano. If he does this, the islanders will grant the millionaire mining rights to the island. Joe agrees and sets out on an adventure traveling to the island.

On the way, he finds himself and he finds his true love, Patricia (another character played by Meg Ryan). As he climbs to the edge of the volcano (spoiler alert!), he decides to marry Patricia and she decides to jump into the volcano with him. "We'll just see. We'll just jump and we'll see.", says Patricia. The jump symbolizes both characters leaving their past lives behind and starting anew.

Both of them jump just as the volcano explodes, shooting them out of the volcano into the water as the island is destroyed behind them. Having miraculously survived their leap, the two are left swimming the ocean at the end of the movie. In a quick discussion, Joe finds out that the doctor who diagnosed his "brain cloud" actually works for Patricia's dad, who was the millionaire. Joe is not dying. At first, Joe is actually upset by this news, then he realizes that he is going to live.

As the two float in the ocean on top of Joe's huge luggage cases (which miraculously appear), Joe begins to lament their situation floating out in the ocean with no land in sight. They had just survived situation after situation, yet Joe still doubted his future. Patricia just looks at him with a smile and says, "It's always going to be something with you, isn't Joe?". The End.

We sometimes exchange the illusion of control over our lives for really bad situations. We stick with jobs we hate, we put up with despicable people, and we start to limit our world to a small little corner, just because we seem to have control over that small corner. The truth is that God is in control. As a mentor of mine one said, "God is in control and its a good thing, because we would really mess things up!".

That is what the movie is about. In the movie, Patricia tells Joe that her father once said that "Most people spend their entire lives asleep, but their are a few who are awake, and they spend their lives in constant amazement.". This is true. How many times do we drive home under a brilliant sunset or ignore a great idea from a employee? Life is a bunch of leaps. The exciting ones require Faith.

God is in control, and that is a good thing!

(WARNING: Do NOT jump into a Volcano!)

God and Business

by Don Harkey

Religious freedom is held as one of the most sacred foundations of the United States. Regardless of faith, a person in the United States has a right to live their life and pursue their dreams.

The execution of this basic principle sometimes blurs our vision.

The concept of the separation of church and state comes from the very beginnings of this country. The purpose of this is obvious. If the government adopted a national religion, which religion would they adopt? Who is to say it is the "right" religion? It would be well within our human nature to begin to suppress the "wrong" religions if a religion were declared to be "right".

However, separation of church and state has entered our politically correct (PC) culture and taken on a new meaning.

In many large corporations (and more than a few smaller ones), it is against company policy to discuss religion or faith. Employees are trained with the conclusion statement of "just don't do it". A lot of this is admittedly driven by our out-of-control legal system.

I think this issue needs some clarity.

When one employee continuously preaches to another employee about their religion, tells another employee that their beliefs are "wrong" or when makes fun of another religion, the employee is has clearly stepped crossed a line. First of all, in terms of business, this produces an environment that kills open communication and the sharing of ideas. This is not good for the organization. Secondly, from a religious standpoint, this is the wrong way to try to help someone. As Christians, we are called to be "fishers of men". Is the right way to catch a fish to push it away and make it feel inferior? We are all imperfect people who are just struggling to do the right thing and we can all learn from each other.

However, when we completely separate God and business, we start to lose sight of our own personal core purpose. Most people believe in a "higher power". When we separate God from business, we are creating an anti-sanctuary where we suspend our core values in place of business metrics and profits. We lose opportunities to truly help people and live out our Faith (note that I say "Faith" not "Religion").

I believe we are placed on this Earth for a Purpose. God has given each of us Strengths to carry out that Purpose every day of our lives. We live together and work together and try to maintain our clarity on what that Purpose is for each of us.

This is why good management in business is so important. This is why good ethics in business is critical. EVERYTHING we do must align with our Purpose. Our goal in life is not to follow our own mission, but to follow God's Mission!

So if you are someone who has control over an organization, embrace the diversity of souls that have been brought together and allow people to feel the full satisfaction of living their Purpose and learning from each other. Allow people to apply their Faith to their work when it is done in a way that doesn't destroy communication or the sense of team within an organization. Pray together. Even someone who doesn't believe in God can respect the focus and clarity that can come from a good Prayer. Respecting each other is respecting what God has created.

By bringing Faith into our work, we just might gain a little more clarity to our real Purpose!