Yesterday I celebrated my 60th birthday! Even though I don't particularly like the fact that I have now lived more years than I will live in the future, I like birthdays. It is a time to reflect upon the events, accomplishments, and growth of the last year as well as to ponder on what I want to accomplish and experience in the coming year.
I like using my birthday rather than New Year's to do this because my birthday is a milestone in my own personal life. Reflecting on my 59th year has not been an easy one, though, because it was filled with many painful disappointments and excruciating opposition which zapped much of my strength and left me quite weary.
A birthday --the start of a new year of my life--provides a time to refocus on my goal which is to be an instrument in the hands of the Lord to help Him with His work to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man within my circle of influence. Therefore, I must allow Him to mold me in the way He chooses--and to prune that which is getting in the way. Molding and pruning are always painful although both are necessary to produce the desired fruit.
It is also critical to remember that opposition is not a bad thing. The LDS Prophet Joseph Smith learned that opposition grew as he became more valuable to the Lord's purposes. Albert Einstein understood this when he said, "Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." Therefore, for those of us who desire to be great spirits and be an instrument in the Lord's hands to make a difference for our diverse learners, it should not be a surprise when we encounter opposition. In fact, if we aren't facing any opposition, we are probably not doing much to make a difference.
Showing posts with label reflect. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reflect. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Saturday, October 27, 2007
A Spiritual Leader Writes
Dr. Festus Obiakor from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee gave a presentation at BYU called Let Your Work Speak.
In order to have one's work speak, a spiritual leader will take time to read, ponder, reflect, and write. In other words, if spiritual leaders are to make a difference for diverse learners, they must think. Albert Einsten said, "The world we have created is a product of our thinking; it cannot be changed without changing our thinking." If the dismal education world for diverse learners is going to change, there must be a change in thinking.
Benjamin Disraeli said, "The best way to become acquainted with a subject is to write a book about it." Well, it may not have to be a book, but it at least needs to be a journal article (even if it is rejected!) or it may be no more than a "Letter to the Editor" or a personal journal entry.
This writing must not be done to please others, but it must follow the counsel of William Wordsworth, "Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart....." One of the greatest writers of all time, Charles Dickens, learned this lesson. It was when he remembered and reflected upon his own life--the difficulties of his life--- and combined the images of the present with the past that he experienced an enormous burst of creative energy that subordinated all his problems, including his own depression and the possibility of financial ruin. The result of that burst of creative energy was the magnificent story, A Christmas Carol, which has blessed so many lives.
We learn from this incident in the life of Charles Dickens that not only does writing clear the cobwebs out of one's own head, but "The skill of writing is to create a context in which other people can think" (Edwin Schlossberg) and "But words are things, and a small drop of ink, Falling, like dew, upon a thought, produces That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think" (Lord Byron). And I would add, feel.
Edward Bulwer-Lytton eloquently expressed the impact writing can have on those who do the writing as well as those who read it: "The pen is mightier than the sword."
In order to have one's work speak, a spiritual leader will take time to read, ponder, reflect, and write. In other words, if spiritual leaders are to make a difference for diverse learners, they must think. Albert Einsten said, "The world we have created is a product of our thinking; it cannot be changed without changing our thinking." If the dismal education world for diverse learners is going to change, there must be a change in thinking.
Benjamin Disraeli said, "The best way to become acquainted with a subject is to write a book about it." Well, it may not have to be a book, but it at least needs to be a journal article (even if it is rejected!) or it may be no more than a "Letter to the Editor" or a personal journal entry.
This writing must not be done to please others, but it must follow the counsel of William Wordsworth, "Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart....." One of the greatest writers of all time, Charles Dickens, learned this lesson. It was when he remembered and reflected upon his own life--the difficulties of his life--- and combined the images of the present with the past that he experienced an enormous burst of creative energy that subordinated all his problems, including his own depression and the possibility of financial ruin. The result of that burst of creative energy was the magnificent story, A Christmas Carol, which has blessed so many lives.
We learn from this incident in the life of Charles Dickens that not only does writing clear the cobwebs out of one's own head, but "The skill of writing is to create a context in which other people can think" (Edwin Schlossberg) and "But words are things, and a small drop of ink, Falling, like dew, upon a thought, produces That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think" (Lord Byron). And I would add, feel.
Edward Bulwer-Lytton eloquently expressed the impact writing can have on those who do the writing as well as those who read it: "The pen is mightier than the sword."
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