There are some projects I’ve been trying to move forward and have been trying to think about “fresher ideas” to help me do that… I came across this TED talk by Steven Johnson on “Where Good Ideas Come From”… I learnt a couple of things and got “reminders”… Check it out…
The talk made me decide to revisit my “ideas journal”, mindmaps and other places I’ve captured my “brain storms” to see if there is a “common thread” building up to a “core idea / strategy” among other things…
We all have people we look up to for diverse reasons. Some of the reasons we look up to them could be that they have strengths in areas we don’t. Or they’ve achieved in areas we desire to achieve in… The reasons are numerous, perhaps innumerable. And, every now and then we contemplate on questions we would ask them on what it takes to get where they are. We want to know what it is that sets them apart and in some cases what makes them nothing short of demigods in some people’s eyes. When the opportunities to sit at the feet of our heroes we quickly turn them to victims of sort, as we bombard them with one question after another. Let’s flip the tables for a moment; imagine you are in the hero’s chair and someone asks you, “If you had one thing to say to the world what would it be?” Hold the thought for a moment…
This week I will not be posting (what should be my weekly) “My Lessons From Last Week”. However, I’d like to share about someone that made an impact on my life. Last week my last surviving grandparent, my grandmother, (mom’s mom) passed away. I spent some time reflecting on what I’ve learnt from her. As I reflected, I realized I could not recall a time I actually sat with my granny for a lesson. I cannot remember a time I quizzed her about many of ‘life’s issues’. Yet, her signature is undeniably evident on me (and my siblings through mom).
Growing up, I was often not too pleased with my mom assigning my siblings and I seemingly never-ending chores. Mom always saw and or created something to do around the house or in our garden. She was somehow a workaholic and seemed not to have ‘rest’ or ‘break’ in her vocabulary. The truth is as we were growing up we also wanted our ‘breaks from chores’ to last the rest of our lives! In retrospect, the work ethic my mother carried, which when we were younger and felt victims of, was actually ‘inherited’ from granny. In her old age my granny still wanted to work her garden and never could sit still. I now more evenly distribute the ‘blame’ for attempting to instill a work ethic in my siblings and I to include my granny.
This is yet another reminder for us to never underestimate the impact we have on posterity and those close to us. The decisions we make and lives we live daily have directly implications on our children’s children and the children’s children of those we influence now! There are a few other things I realized in my reflection but want to keep to this example and get back to the question, “If you had one thing to say to the world what would it be?”
I got to see my granny for the last time in December last year. The thought that it could be the last time I saw her did cross my mind… The last thing she said to my siblings and I was, “Love one another and never lie”. From all the life lessons she could share she chose to say these words to us. I think that’s profound. Allow me… Love one another – This means that granny probably realized that the most significant thing to be pursued and attained in life is not inconsiderate self gratification. Part of me thinks granny saw where she was in her life as the ‘last stretch’. I think, “Love one another” came out of her time in reflection and allow me to put forward another assumption. At the end of our lives we are going to measure the worth of our lives based on what we did for others. What we did for others will be of more worth than personal achievements. I think granny was also saying, “Live for others and not your selfish ambition and desires”. People who are highly esteemed are those that have been selfless and did something for the enrichment of other people’s lives.
“Never lie”- Granny was reminding us to embrace the value of truth and to not forget the devastating effects of lies. I’m sure granny, in her long life, had seen some devastating effects of lies. Truth builds up and lies ultimately destroy. Truth is the bedrock of character. Being truthful to ourselves and others will protect us. Truth will build and give you a good reputation that cannot be priced. Truth is the cornerstone of authentic relationships. Truth will truly set us free; lies will entangle us it often take another lie to cover another. Truth will create enemies and simultaneously give you true friends. My granny was my hero, but an even greater one now as see how she enriched my life both directly and indirectly.
Who is one of your heroes and what is the one thing you’ve caught from them? If you were in the hero’s seat right now, what’s the one thing you’d say?
I think as Christians we sometimes underestimate the responsibilities that God has entrusted us with. Don’t get me wrong, I am not in any way saying that we are indispensable; that God cannot see His purposes accomplished without us.
Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?”… Your children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the desert. – Numbers 14:3, 33 (NIV)
This is a part of one of the most fascinating stories in history… Israel was on the verge of inheriting what God had for them and they, in a sense, opted out. The reason why they should have fought and possessed the land God had given them was what they used as an excuse not to fight! They did not want the ‘inconvenience’ on their part at the expense of the future of their children and their children’s children! At this point, all they thought about was themselves. Christianity at the core is not just about ‘me’. Being like Christ means that we follow His example of putting others before ourselves. Being selfless is not an optional Christian attribute, it must be characteristic of all Christians.
How we respond to God’s call now has direct implications on generations after us. The decisions we make, the way we serve God serves generations around us. Both positively and negatively. Hence the importance of us checking the basis upon which we serve God. Are we serving God with a selfish ambition i.e. for what we can get out of it and not for something greater – others and God’s glory beyond our lives. Our selflessness (or lack of it) also has direct implications for the community God has placed us in. Something I’m grappling with (I dare say) – the state of the community in which we are as a church has some sort of reflection on how we’re serving God? Is that too harsh? Perhaps unreasonable?
Jesus placed a lot of responsibility on the disciples of establishing His church after He left. I don’t think that we are too ‘small’ to impact the community or cities we’re in as the church. Jesus called us the salt of the earth. It doesn’t take a lot of salt to make a big difference! We have to think and act generationally; beyond ourselves. The Christian faith is not exclusively personal and the impact thereof has to be ‘others-focused’ too. The battles we win are not only our victories but others’ also, in our time and beyond us. This also means our failures have the same impact. Your commitment to serving God shapes the face of our city / community and many generations after us, don’t trifle with it!
I went through my blog sometime last week – a little maintenance work, if I can call it that. I use WordPress for my blog. I checked if plugins were working the way they should, links etc. I realized something; most of the times I’ve checked my links, plugins and other functionality of my blog and overlooked the RSS feeds. Well not this time! I discovered it wasn’t working as it should be. I then installed FeedBurner to remedy that – now working perfectly.
The Lesson: There are the “invisible” components of “systems”. Because these are more in the background and out of sight it makes it easy to forget or overlook them. Because we cannot see them doesn’t meant they don’t exist and cannot affect us. I was challenged to think about the “background” things in my life and functions that facilitate the more visible ones. These same things have the capacity to bring down projects. A little oil is necessary to prevent a gigantic machines / engines from breaking down. I realized I have checklists for some things but not all. The invisible that matters can be made and kept visible through checklists. Checklists help make “maintenance” systematic. In a team context checklists can facilitate easier duty / task transferals and subsequent continuity.
If you’re not on twitter why aren’t you? If you are on twitter, what lessons have you learnt?
