Weekly Thought – March 13, 2018
Fred’s ability to fashion a principle-based thought from everyday experiences distinguished him from others. His writings gathered into “daily warm-ups for the race of life” demonstrated his appreciation of quick thoughts which would stimulate conversation.
BWFLI update: Please pray for the two April events at Alice Lloyd College (April 6,7) and Lindsey Wilson College (April 27,28). Your consistent encouragement is appreciated and felt by all.
Warm-ups for Healthy Living
How much I enjoy conversation which starts with an idea and then fires up into something beneficial for all engaged. Here are a few suggestions which might be enjoyable starts:
1) Power. Power is the ability to get things done. It is active, not passive. A thought may be powerful but its power comes from the action it evokes, not just in mental stimulation. We hear about power seats, power ties, and power drinks. But none of them is really power – they are simply images of power and shadows of reality. True power gets things done.
2) Envy or Contempt. Once in a business conference I became a little uncharacteristically pompous, possibly even self-righteous, and one of the other executives with a keen sense of humor said, “Smith, speaking as an outsider, what do you think of the human race?” We may feel that we are stirring up envy when we are really stirring up contempt.
3) Helpful Eavesdropping. Yogi Berra was reported to have said, “You can hear a lot by listening.” I have learned many helpful things over the years by innocent eavesdropping. I was sitting in the Lobby of the Gibson Hotel in Cincinnati listening to two women talking. One was an older lady; the other younger. When the younger asked the older a question I was interested to know the answer. “If you had your life to live over, what would you do with yourself?” The older woman didn’t hesitate but responded quickly, “I would find something big enough to give myself to.”
4) Keeping Your Concentration. One of the in a college basketball game made a particularly good shot and grinned at the crowd. The commentator said to his radio audience, “It’s too early to smile, there is too much game left.” In the Winter Olympic Games, a U.S. figure skater made the difficult jumps and then fell on a very easy maneuver late in his performance. The commentator said “He relaxed too much. He assumed he had done the hard things and the easy things would take care of themselves.” We must concentrate right up to the end.
This week think about: 1) When did I lose my concentration and it caused a fall? 2) How would I answer the older woman’s question? 3) What symbols of power have I substituted for power that gets things done?
Words of Wisdom: “True power gets things done.”
Wisdom from the Word: “For God did not give us a Spirit of fear but of power and love and self-control.” (2 Timothy 1:7 NET Bible)