Weekly Thought – April 21, 2010

Fred once said he captured every valuable idea he heard, read, or considered. He wrote them on napkins, matchbooks, and especially church offering envelopes. He never traveled far from his tape recorder. Margie Keith spent years taking scraps of paper, and voice snippets and putting them into pages of “captured thoughts.” How grateful we are for both who made it possible to archive and utilize his gifts.

Thanks to all who encourage us week by week. Your words expressing how you use these wisdom emails help us. Thanks to everyone who contributes to make this work possible week by week.

Scatterthinking

1. Considerations on loss

Early one morning at a men’s conference I was greeted by one of the participants who attended my session with loss as the topic. “How would you like to lose $50 million, move your wife out of a three million dollar home, and take Chapter 11?” I asked, “Is that your story?” “Yes.”

It would have been easy to have told him to read the book of Job and put him on my prayer list. That may have been the proper approach for some, but for me it would have been sheer hypocrisy. It would have been irresponsible. Be clear – I am not saying scripture and prayer are the wrong response. But in this situation, I knew I was to offer something I was gifted to give – my business experience and strategic thinking.

We spent two hours going through his situation and considering the options. Often loss causes a cloud to settle in, limiting the ability to effectively think through the problem and possible solutions. In our time together we began the process of navigating through the cloud, finding suitable outcomes.
The book of Proverbs tells us when we have something in our hand to give another, it is wrong to withhold it. My training, my gifting, and my experience prepared me to sit down with him and begin a conversation that would lead him out of the fog.

We identified one option which would begin his way back. Two years later he contacted me telling me he had cleared Chapter 11 and was working his plan.

2.Mental Discipline

Benjamin Franklin assembled a list of character traits he wanted in his life. These virtues were considered part of a mature, successful life: temperance, silence, order, resolution, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, tranquility, chastity, and humility. He established a plan to focus on each one week by week, studying them four times during the year. Even today I meet leaders who frame copies of this system and hang them on their office walls.

This practice made me think about not only putting on, but putting off. I asked myself “what habits would I like to break?” I put that question to you. What one, two, or three commitments would set the direction for change? Take one commitment in each major area of life (e.g. career, family, community), write down the desired outcome, and begin an intentional plan of action.

This week carefully consider: 1) How can I use my gifts and experiences to help in problem solving? 2) What do I do when the cloud of loss descends? 3) When do I do my best thinking?

Words of Wisdom: “Often loss causes a cloud to settle in, limiting the ability to effectively think through the problem and possible solutions.”

Wisdom from the Word: “How great are your works, O LORD! Your plans are very intricate!” (Psalm 92:5 NET Bible)

Weekly Thought – April 14,2020

Fred thought for fun. How odd that sounds, but it is true. He marveled when people would tell him they never thought at all. Everything he saw, read, or experienced started him down an exploratory path of contemplation. In his files are hundreds of pages labeled M-M. No one to date has deciphered the meaning, but they are one or two paragraph observations on diverse subjects. We are serving up two of these delights this week.

As Fred frequently pointed out, we are in constant flux. No one feels this more than college students. Please pray for those we touch each year with a message of hope, and help. Your encouragement and financial support are greatly appreciated.

The Human Condition

Part of our condition is caused by living in a secular world. Too often our religion takes on the flavor of the secular, as well. We live in a competitive world where winning and losing are key. We live in a high-energy world with image fighting reality, with the media too often doing the defining. We recognize and appreciate individualism while needing community.

Peers are more important to the youth than parents. Materialism is more prevalent and more highly valued than spirituality “Now” is overshadowing interest in the hereafter. Science has put faith on the defensive. Authority is being questioned. Institutional religion and denominations are in disfavor.

And yet, there is a memory of what used to be, a faint recollection of a certain otherness. There is a yearning for true reality. In this vacuum there is a longing for meaning.

Transition to What?

Historians have labeled these times as “post-modern.” They say we are in a transition period, not yet knowing what we will become. We are like a trapeze artist who has left the security of one swing and has not yet reached the certainty of the next. I think we are in the period between trapeze and chaos.

Management books are written on managing these times. When we want to go back, we realize we are the trapeze performer caught between swings. It would be foolish to think we can stand still and let the world come back to us. We must move forward.

Our confidence as believers is in the fact that Biblical have no time frame, no relevant situations. Any transition is from one era to another knowing God is always there.

This week think about: 1) What do I think about when I alone? 2) What changes am I anticipating? 3) How well am I balancing Biblical principles in a secular world?

Words of Wisdom: “ ‘Now’ is overshadowing interest in the hereafter.”

Wisdom from the Word: “All generous giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or the slightest hint of change.” (James 1:17 NET Bible)