Thread by @BrentBeshore

Lots of plane time recently and brought along a book gifted to me called “Love Does” by Bob Goff. It's an autobiography from a lawyer who offices at Disneyland, became Ugandan consul, and took his kids to eat ice cream with heads of state.

Quotes are his. Notes are mine.

“Love doesn’t just keep thinking about it or keep planning for it. Simply put: love does.”

Careful consideration is only helpful if it changes something. Selfless action is love in motion.

“The kind of love that God created and demonstrated is a costly one because it involves sacrifice and presence.”

Love without sacrifice is merely appreciation for someone's or something's utility. It's self-worship in drag.

“I used to be afraid of failing at something that really mattered to me, but now I’m more afraid of succeeding at things that don’t matter.”

Winning at the wrong game is an unsatisfying gift. Hell is continuing to play the wrong game without ever realizing it's folly.

Authentic Friendship: “There were no angles, no plan in particular…no agenda either; There was nothing on the other side of the equals sign to make it balance — just us.”

True friendship is consistent presence, especially when it's hard, without judgement or regard for utility.

“One of the best filters you can use to trust someone is when there’s nothing for them to gain from their advice.”

Trust, or incentivize. Loving indifference, or skin in the game.

“You become like the people you hang around, and to a great degree, you end up going wherever they’re headed.”

Independence is an illusion. Hurt people hurt people. Thinkers elicit thinking. Doers inspire doing. You are a reflection of who you keep close.

“Most great adventures work that way. You don’t plan them, you don’t wait to get all the details right, you just do them.”

We sense-make in straight lines, but live the squiggles.

“A father’s job, when it’s done best, is to get down on both knees, lean over his children’s lives, and whisper ‘Where do you want to go?’”

Deeply meaningful relationships spring out of co-painted adventure.

“We’re not here to let everyone know what we agree and don’t agree with, because, frankly, who cares?”

Commentators in grandstands mistake snark for intelligence and condescension for accomplishment. Get in the arena where it’s messy, risky, and meaningful.

“Instead of telling people about what we’re doing all the time, there’s a better way…secretly incredible people just do things.”

Those I admire most humbly grind away in obscurity to make the world better, interrupted occasionally by someone taking notice.

“Mission statements are just a catchy sentence or two about how noble the task is, and maybe by implication, how noble we are.”

Lofty and eloquent declarations often bury the virtue underneath a pile of signaling.

“What if we were just to do awesome, incredible stuff together while we’re here on earth?”

Maybe it is just that simple?

“Organizations have programs. People have friends. Friends trump programs every time.”

I often think to myself, “Relationships are everything,” then almost always get surprised by how important relationships really are.

“Instead of closing our eyes and bowing our heads, sometimes God wants us to keep our eyes open for people in need, do something about it, and bow our whole lives to Him instead.”

Piousness can quickly turn self-reverential and self-justifying. As Bob says, love does.

“I want to pick a fight because I want someone else’s suffering to matter more to me…It’s messy, it’s time consuming, it’s painful, and it’s costly. It sounds an awful lot like the kind of fight Jesus took on for us.”

Meaningful change requires costly sacrifice.

“Do life like a pickup basketball game. If you’ve got a hook shot, you bring that. If you’re not a good shooter, you pass the ball…You just bring all the game you’ve got.”

Life is a team sport won by serving your teammates.

Shooters get the glory. Passers win championships.