We’ve been hearing about Ted Williams — the homeless man with the “Golden Voice” — off and on for about a year now. Given a second chance after his sudden YouTube fame, things seemed to be looking up for Ted. Years of addiction proved hard to shake though, and his second chance didn’t quite work out.
This is usually where we say, “well, at least we tried, but what did you expect?” Many of us probably did say that.
But that’s not the end of the story. Ted is a real person, not an abstract headline, and his life continued after the attention faded. He pressed through recovery, shifting his failed second chance into a still-unfolding third chance.
“At the time of his unraveling, I said I hoped he might be able to have a comback to his comback. If there’s such a thing as a second chance, there should be a third chance too.”
Jefferson goes on to write that Ted’s third chance has arrived, in the form of a Kraft Valentines Day Twitter campaign. Using the hashtag #VoiceOfLove, you can submit comments and questions, and Ted will personally respond with his beautiful voice!
As People of the Second Chance community, we can raise our voices for new chances tangibly today, tomorrow — all this week — by tweeting #VoiceOfLove. We all deserve a comeback to our comeback and let’s come together to make our #VoiceOfLove strong.
We are People of the Second Chance and together, we have a #VoiceOfLove.”
With Catalyst West approaching, it’s a great time to talk about our theme of “Be Present.” So, what does Be Present really mean to me?
Focused and Undivided. Focused on what is right in front of you.
Engaged In Your Community.
Focused on Your Family & Marriage. In the mess.
A Close Community of Accountability & Friendships.
Leading where you are. Staying in the moment and not losing focus on the here and now.
Embracing the role and opportunity God has given you right now where God has placed you for this season, vs. focusing on what’s next.
Creating margin that allows for interruptions and moments of inconvenience, which can be moments when God does the greatest work through us.
Having consistent connection with your organization, team, and staff.
Being consumed by Jesus and the presence of the Holy Spirit. Because He is Present.
Balancing a culture of distraction and consumption with a commitment to solitude and thinking.
Being vs Doing. What should I do? The tension of a cause driven culture saying do something now vs. the contented state of “being.”
In the TODAY. Yesterday is gone, tomorrow is on it’s way. But today is the present. Focus on Today.
It’s about staying. Showing up and not leaving. Having a presence in a place, a location. About context. Connected to an address, neighborhood, city, zip code.
Where you are. Wherever you are, be all there. It’s our responsibility to embrace what God has put squarely in front of us. Take action right where we are. Being fully present in one place.
Be Present. We get caught up with what happened yesterday and preoccupied with what will happen tomorrow. We live in a constant state of being plugged on, plugged in, status updates, requests, and real time perspective. Is this really the real you though? What if the people in your life knew the real you? What if you stripped back all the layers of fake, and fluff, and façade? What would people see? What would people think? To know this purpose, we must first know Him, Jesus, and living life fully in who He has called us and created us to be.
Let’s strip away all the “stuff” and be real. Aware of what is happening around us, within us, and through us. Be Present.
And we want you to BE PRESENT with us this April for Catalyst West! It’s going to be an amazing time and I hope to see you there.
I don’t use labels like “slut,” “faggot,” or “retard.”
In the words of Tom Petty, I grew up much like Mary Jane, tall and right. I worked hard in school and even harder during my summers off, introducing myself and smiling and apologizing for ingredients out of place just to put myself through four years of college. I studied and kept the scholarships, I lived at home and commuted through pink dawns and starry nights, and often drove straight from campus to work, changing my shirt in the car with knees guiding the wheel.
So no, I’ve never used labels like “slut,” “faggot,” or “retard.”
But daily, hourly, with the same amount of disgust in my voice, I have used these:
“Snobbish.” “Filthy rich.” “Shallow.”
Along the way I’ve deluded myself into thinking I’m a Robin Hood of sorts, stealing dignity from the rich to feed the poor. But I’m the undignified one in this story.
I stuck the labels onto the glittering left hand rings and swanky right hand wristwatches, assured that they’d never peel. But it didn’t work like that. Instead, the labels stuck to me, fastened to the same dirty fingers that tried to stick them on those with six figure incomes. They took on the shape of simmering anger, bitterness, and snide remarks.
And I’m sorry. Because those labels lie. And because we’re all in this saga of humanity together. And we all feel the same burden of the human condition strapped across our shoulders. And we surely all feel the sting of brokenness and loneliness and worthlessness.
I know this because I have those scars too. And that makes us human together.
That makes us partners in this story of redemption and grace.
When we seek love with new, re-birthed, grace filled eyes, reborn without barriers, we find life. We find second chances. New chances. New creativity. New art. We experience the substance and weight of untamed freedom, true free love.
Be love. Be liberated love.
Not the cliched idea that love is a fleeting feeling or 7 steps to achieve it or 5 ways to show it, liberated love is actionable love. The love that rebirths, gives new chances.
“Most people die before they are fully born. Creativeness means to be born before one dies.” -Erich Fromm
Have you experienced this radical, unconditional love? The type that gives birth to new love? The kind where you can stand in front of the closet, full of the shadows and skeletons and darkness of your life and fully open the door, let it all be released and have someone stand with you, holding your hand- and say, “None of this, nothing will change or shape my love for you. My love is not based on what you do or done or could do- it’s simply because you are YOU.”
I believe this love is possible, I believe this love is what a second chance looks like. I believe that you and I can be this love now, today- that we can receive it and give it freely.
I believe we, together, have the ability to celebrate people for being people. period. That we can liberate love- let it be expressed and lavished freely- even in our DARKEST PLACES, the places where we are most ashamed.
No condition. No guarantee. No judgement. Simply because people matter. WE ALL matter, no matter what.
That we can reinvent and rebirth ourselves in this love daily- that we create art with the palette of radical grace, second chances, acceptance, belonging, purpose and believe in the masterpieces we are.
I have a friend who is a used car salesman, a label that nobody wants.
I was helping my mother buy a car. She is a widow, and my dad used to take care of everything for her. When he lost his battle to cancer 13 years ago, the job was handed over to me.
When I walked in the store with her, I made my mission very clear: “I am here to take care of my mother, who is a widow and has a budget. How can you help me?” I asked the salesman.
We found a car we thought would be perfect. Slightly used. Low mileage. Good starting price. Plus it was blue, which was important to her.
The car had just come in and wasn’t ready to show yet. The manager told me his price, saying that he didn’t feel like he could come down much more. I would come back in a few days and we could settle on a final number then.
When I came by, the manager was out that day, so the salesman gave us the write up. It was $2000 cheaper than the previous price. “We’ll take it!” I said without hesitation. I couldn’t believe it. It seemed to good to be true.
It was.
The manager called the next day explaining the mistake. Apparently, one of the basics of selling cars is that you never offer it for less than you’re actually allowed to sell it for.
I was angry. How dare they offer me that price and take it away? What kind of business are they running? I felt I had been lied to. I was going to make him pay, or rather make him let me pay less.
Determined to get the lower price, I equipped myself with the ammunition necessary to win. I armed myself with a label.
“I thought this dealership was different. I thought you had class. Apparently you are just like any other used car salesman.”
I was going to use that label to get what I wanted. Nothing else mattered to me, certainly not the person at the other end of the label. But thankfully, I didn’t actually say it. I wanted to, but before I could pull it out of my arsenal, I took the time to listen.
It turns out our use of labels is often based on what we want out of another person and not in an actual truth about that person.
As he explained, I realized it was an honest mistake. I understood that he is just like me. He was new at this position and his boss is a hard man. If he let this car go at that price he would likely lose his job.
He wasn’t just a man selling used cars, but a person with a family and a mortgage. He was doing the best he could, but like all of us, he messed up.
Used car salesmen, on the other hand, sell junk and call it a bargain. They cheat and lie their way to success, taking advantage of the ignorant. It is a label that you earn through hard work — but not through honest mistakes.
I had two choices. To label and win … or to forgive. To show grace. To allow him the second chance of negotiating the price.
I paid $1500 more than the mistake price. I wish he would have let me pay more for it. I lost the negotiations, but I gained something better. A relationship. A friendship with a used car salesman, made possible through a second chance.
We’ve been hearing about Ted Williams — the homeless man with the “Golden Voice” — off and on for about a year now. Given a second chance after his sudden YouTube fame, things seemed to be looking up for Ted. Years of addiction proved hard to shake though, and his second chance didn’t quite work out.
