FRIDAY, JUNE 24, 2011
Week 4 Reading Post: Chapters 9-12
The Zanders have a very common sense approach to life that obviously isn’t common among us. The anecdotes and connections to music are particularly insightful as I embark on new and uncharted choices in my life and career. As I have mentioned in previous posts, the practices discussed in the The Art of Possibility are biblical and it makes sense, as the author’s father was a student of the Bible and history.
The idea of enrolling others in our dreams is eye opening. Often when we make requests, we operate on the presumption of being turned down. I have heard myself say on many occasions, “The worst he/she can say is no.” I did this to make myself feel better, but did I really? Of course not.
In “being the board” I saw similarities between this new idea of responsibility and blame and being in God’s Will. Like being the board, being in God’s Will makes it possible to accept the circumstances of life knowing that those circumstances will yield positive results in the end. “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28.
What I enjoyed about the frameworks chapter was the whole idea of creating a vision and not division. In all honesty, mission statements do create a competitive spirit and while they may be designed to inspire, it typically is ignored. Now a vision is something that can be seen even if it does not exist at the present. To me, the vision resembles a five-letter word: F-A-I-T-H.
The Zander's story of their father's passionate recount of the Arab and Jewish peoples’ history and arrival in Palestine was interesting. Even more moving was the student’s response, “What a wonderful opportunity! What a privilege for both those peoples to share that land and that history!” What is that saying? Out of the mouth of babes come words of wisdom? Well, that young person definitely has it [wisdom]. What is ironic about division is that the multiple parties are often so similar. The “We” story recognizes the sameness that so often divides.
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