I’m at the Echo Conference in Dallas, a conference for tech-minded communicators. It’s a unique conference and certainly something I’d attend if I wasn’t speaking. In fact, I’ve sat in on sessions. But that’s hardly the point. The point is, they put the speakers up in a hotel near by, a big high-rise thing and they gave each of us a suite. The suite comes with a kitchen, living room, and a conference table for taking over the world. And enough closet space to move Kanye in.
The first thing I thought was that I needed a company, a group of business people who carry yellow pads to come storming into the room so we could figure out how to take something over. It was just a passing thought, but that’s what came into my mind when I walked into the room.
Not the actual hotel. But perfect for homeless guys for sure.
Then I get over to the conference, and Scott McClellan, the big man who runs the conference and I started talking and I told him thanks for all the square footage because I like to run wind sprints. He said when Dan Merchant walked into the room, the first thing he thought was that he should go gather up a group of homeless guys to stay there for the night. That made me feel like crap. Dan Merchant.
* I should add that hotels often throw in free suites as a thanks to conferences. Echo doesnt spend your dough on this stuff. Now the fact I demand silk sheets for my cats is a different story.
That was my first thought too…gosh, what kind of person are you Don?
Actually, looking at the pic you have I was thinking, where are the slot machines and where is my bag of money that I can roll around in? But that too was just a passing thought and THEN I thought I should go and find a single mom and her kids to stay there for the night…
Don,
Did Mr. Merchant actually host the homeless people or just think it? Is his thought better than yours? Your thought about taking over something made me laugh as well as the comment about running wind sprints. (I am assuming you did not actually follow through and take over something–that would not be funny). Mr. Merchant’s thought I am sure is inspiring to many but so might be your humorous thought. May God use both of you to bless others today.
take care,
Jonathan
HAhahaha you make me laugh. Maybe you could move some homeless guys in and do wind sprint with them. Recently I had a couple of my students staying in a hotel room with me. They had brought an inflatable mattress because they hadn’t believed me that they wouldn’t need it. So they inflated it, put it on top of one of the beds, and were “flying” from a chair onto it. Yes they were sober, and yes I thought my boss was going to walk in and I was going to get fired at that very moment, and yes I took pictures. Sadly the photos are on my iphone which is broken and getting fixed because I was staying at in my aunt’s basement, which isn’t so cushy, so I had to actually go outside to run, and it was hot, and the phone slipped from my hand and fell on asphalt, and then little glass slivers were getting imbedded in my fingers when I tried to use it. That’s all I have to say.
one more c – Scott McClellan
So I’m sitting in a parking lot waiting for a store to open, and I was sitting here fuming about something dumb that just happened and made me really angry, when I decided to check out the blog today. It’s hard to be angry when you’re laughing. Thank you!
I love it when RHPs (Really Humble People) knock the wind out of a stunningly witty moment. You’re humble too; the nimble imagination just has to eek its way out before the Serious Humble part does.
Thinking about wind sprints and thinking about the homeless are both valid. I’m reading The Irresistible Revolution at the moment so this made me laugh when put along side their work in Philly and in Calcutta.
I think about things and feel guilty about things instead of doing things often, too. I know God doesn’t want us to feel guilty but stirs things instead and we are the ones to twist it into some kind of self punishment. One time someone told me, “don’t should all over yourself.” I liked that.
Yeah for Echo conference, and yeah for your talk. Liked it a lot!
The first things I thought at the suggestion that you invite homeless men into that fancy hotel suite is that they might steal or spoil things, or they might harm you in your sleep, or they might cause a disturbance that puts all of you out on the street.
What does that say about me?
I’d say I’m a pragmatist.
It’s funny how seeing opulence makes one think of performing brash acts of charity. Then comes reconsideration, and thoughts of an economy properly managed and directed.
Maybe islands of opulence play an important role in a free society. Even the briefest encounters with them cause us to prioritize.
Ouch.
Ouch. Nothing like having ice water poured over your face while you sleep. You know, Dan Merchant was definitely trying to ruffle feathers and provoke a response. But…listen closely…is that…I believe it is…the voice of Jesus I hear cutting through the spaces between Dan’s words? Jesus: a homeless man. You have to admit that we (the church in the US) do tend to spend gross amounts on ourselves. To be honest, I’m not “willing” to restructure my life, my personal spending and my comfort for the sake of the lost and the needy…but it’s something I’m doing anyway, because following a homeless man, Jesus, the Son of God, is worth it. I recommend David Platt’s book, Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From The American Dream.
Did he actually do it though?
The two of you should get together and take over something with the homeless guys. I bet they would have some really amazing ideas and would love for someone to listen to them.
lmao. you are brilliant. love it.
Isn’t everything in Texas bigger anyway?
You could probably house a small village in that room.
Remember Jesus loves us anyway and thank goodness for forgiveness!
One of my notes from the Echo conference:
“Awareness without Action is pointless.”
Just because he thought it doesn’t make him better. Action is the language of the heart.
So, let me ask you this… how do you know that the thing you take over and all your frantic cohorts with yellow legal pads aren’t working on a plan to pair homeless with conference attendees around the world, offering local flavor to visitors, shelter to the down-on-their-luck, and a great awareness the attendee can take back home and do more good with?
“I mean, first I was going to start an orphanage… and then buy a shiny car” – Lucky Day in Three Amigos
Wind sprints…take over the world…you make me laugh! I probably would have felt the same way, like they’d given me the Prince of Abu Dhabi’s room in error!
No, it doesn’t make you a bad person, just a real one. A person many of us can relate to.
However, I know what you mean…whenever someone I know says something much more selfless than I would, I feel socked in the gut. But don’t we learn from those around us? We’re sharpened by our peers, those who have learned lessons we need to learn.
I know I’ve been challenged and have learned a lesson or two from your and your conversational style of teaching and writing. Thanks, Don! Thanks for being real!
Ha. The real question is…what did lucy think?
Lucy deserves silk sheets. Don’t know about the cats, though!
That pic looks remarkably like the inside of Jeannie’s bottle from I Dream of Jeannie in the 70′s. (I don’t remember Captain Nelson’s or Jeannie’s stance on assisting the homeless.)
Think of it this way….
You wanted to run wind sprints to keep yourself healthy so that you can help people in need. You are an awesome person, Don. Don’t ever doubt yourself.
You are a TERRIBLE person.
Hello,
I am homeless. You do not need to feel like crap anymore, what’s the address and what time should you expect me?
That’s pretty funny.
Evevn if Dan Merchant > Don Miller, I don’t know Dan, so you’re still my favorite Don =)
Sometimes my work puts me up in rooms like that when i travel. I always feel weird, especially working for a humanitarian organization that works in the 3rd world. Here i am using all 14 pillows and deciding which bathrobe and slipper combination to use out of the shower, while 20 stories down and 5 blocks across someone is excited they found a big piece of cardboard to use as a roof.
However, I see a beast well up inside of me that thinks he deserves this. “I can’t believe they put me on the 35th floor instead of the 47th.” “Why are these bag boys taking so long to bring me my bags?!” I think privilege brings a greater responsibility, maybe that responsibility is just to not let privilege tell you who you are. Kindof glad not to be a rich man, because that beast is quick to respond!
Don, you’re great. Thanks for keeping up with this blog.
It is good to feel like crap sometimes. I do right now.. The cake lid at my parents house was covering a tempting, made from scratch, German Chocolate Cake.. before I knew it there was a fork in my hand and crumbs falling from my mouth.
Failure and defeat. Round one-
Thank God for round two.
Oh goodness, doing wind sprints might just make you live longer and have some additional opportunities to do good.
Now you have something to think about next time… the key is to pull it off without the hotel busting you for having too many people in your room!
Or, some crazy with a camera trying to nab you for what they might “ass-u-me” you are doing!
Ah, all the silliness one must go through to do something good!! Great idea, definitely!
This made me immediately ashamed at all of the times I have heard of speakers at conferences staying on the conferences’ dime…when in fact it was probably not on the conferences’ dime. Also, most of us are not programed to think about the poor because we simply don’t know any poor people. You though, probably do; it was probably just a slip, right? Anyway, don’t beat yourself up to much. God brings us up with conviction; the enemy uses guilt to push us down. Take care and keep writing.
Maybe if Dan Merchant were in the mindset of taking things over, he’d be able to house a lot more homeless people than that measely little 5,000 sf suite.
Juuussstt Kidddiinng.
I stayed in a bridal suite at one of those schmancy places in Dallas not too long ago the night before my best friend’s wedding…Neither thoughts of taking things over nor thoughts of the homeless came across my mind whatsoever. It was more like “maybe I don’t have insomnia…maybe I need 5,463,456 threadcount sheets”…
That is the same room Sheik Fahad stayed at just recently. Was the music Arabian?
Wind sprints are pretty funny and thinking about taking over things should make a person feel like crap, but will Lucy be back on Monday? Maybe you should have taken a picture with Lucy in the big red room. Thinking that all of your posts should include Lucy.
Since when do you have cat children?
cats?
Hey Don,
Honest to God I didn’t read this blog. I’m sorry. But I can’t find a freaking email on your website at all and I just wanted to talk to you. I’m 16 and I live in Ohio and I’m in Portland right now exploring Blue Like Jazz and all the rest.
I wanted to see Palio cafe and Honkers and to know “The Cave” exists because those are the things in life that give you hope. I wanted to know what it was like to be able to put words to paper and know that they will change someone. I finally found Father Fiction in a bookstore, (Powell’s actually, it was insane, I got lost numerous times), I’ve been reading for the last hour or two in the dinky hotel room and I just want to talk to you.
I have a father but he ignored me for a good deal of my life, and even though he’s here now, I’m always looking for a different role model because he just a guy who lives the hall to me. I guess that’s how I see you. You give me hope. I’ll be in town until August 2nd, so just email me if you want to get together.
Thanks for everything.
Sorry if I sound like an amazing creeper.
- Drew
I know this reply really won’t fit into this topic, but there is no other way to communicate this to you Don. (don’t worry, I’m not going to declare my undying love.)
This morning, after working midnights, I found myself in McDonalds, waiting for Sears to open. I had “Blue like Jazz” in my work bag and I’ve been meaning to read the last few pages but I have not been in much of a reading mood lately. This was the perfect opportunity. I got to the part where you described sitting at a campfire with Jesus. I pictured myself there and imagined that He was answering all of my why questions. He was listening to me vent anger about a seemingly impossible situation. He was being understanding about how at my age I still don’t have it all together and my Christian walk is still rocky.
Scolding me about shutting down to Him when I need Him the most. Tears started streaming down my face. I turned towards the wall so nobody would notice. Your words made that possible, and I want to thank you for that.
i think what it really is is that when you say the room you immediately thought of the type of people who normally would stay in such a big haughty room. the big business types that need all that room to make themselves feel better about their lives. when dan saw it he thought about the type of people who would normally not be staying such a place. people of less means. same wave link, different channels.
This made me snort I laughed so hard. I love how you give voice to your real thoughts–it’s lovely to think someone is as self-centered as I am. And I mean that in the most kind way.
When reading this, all I could think of was:
“What are we going to do tonight, Don?”
“The same thing we do every night – try to take over the world!”
Wow. Looks like an interior bottle scene from “I Dream of Jeannie.”
Ummm… Hey Don! Why don’t my comments ever appear? I don’t ever say anything offensive and I even link your blog in my blog roll! Ha. Just wondering what you have against 6’8″ 290 pound youth pastors? Ha. Just curious?
Never heard of you so I’m not sure. Each coment must be moderated. They don’t post immediately.
Ok. Thanks.
I once ended up with a suite in Jamaica, and all I could think of is, “Who can I call to come join me?” Not so altruistic as taking over a cause, as much as taking over a beach. The funniest thing is, that night I came back to the suite and there was a plate on the dining room table. I thought (a la the Three Bears), “Somebody’s been eating in my suite!” Thank God I looked. It was a platter of chocolate treats. For me. Sometimes, we all need to learn to receive. (Not just the homeless.)
“That made me feel like crap. Dan Merchant.”
I still haven’t stopped laughing! You are so funny! LOL