from Ron Rose
February 4, 2008

Preparation

Peter Senge has challenged us all in his book The Fifth Discipline. I found his analysis of adults very thought-provoking, He contends that most adults have little sense of real vision. "We have goals and objectives, but these are not visions." Is it that way with you?

Let me put it this way: Are your questions big enough? or, are you settling for the questions that you have easy answers to?

Here is the essential question: What's really important to me?

Most of us will answer that question on the surface... We will click-off a list of goals, or desires, or wishes. We want a better job, a better house. a safer neighborhood, a new place for mother-in-law, a body without pain, or a new "hotty" body. Great goals, I guess, but not a vision. They reduce the intent of the question to something we can answer without much thought or musing.

We need a vision--something bigger than ourselves.

What causes some people to explore the unknown even when that exploration might entail loss, pain, hardship and death? What's really important to them?

In order to answer the essential question, "What's really important to me?" start with another question and spend some time musing: "What is it that gives me the greatest joy?" This is a starting place question and it deserves serious thought. Don't settle for a general "religious" answer, or for what others expect you to say, find the unique light within. There is something that makes your life meaningful and worth living. There is something that brings you joy... what is it?

Inspiration

It was at the end of the seminar on world peace when Robert asked, "Dr. Papaderos, what is the meaning of life?"

To the surprise of the other students, Alexander Papaderos took Robert Fulghum's playful question seriously. Taking his wallet out of his hip pocket, he fished through the contents till be found a small round mirror, about the size of a quarter.

"When I was a small child," he said, “during the war, we were very poor and we lived in a remote village on Crete. One day, along an old country road, I found a German motorcycle that had been wrecked. It was a wonderful find for a small boy. As I stood the bike up, I noticed something unexpected.”

"The mirrored headlight glass had shattered into unusual pieces. I tried to find them all and put them together, but it was not possible, so I kept the one that was shaped like a circle. This one. And by scratching it on a stone I made it smooth on the edges. From that day forward, when I was bored, I would pull out my little mirror and reflect light into any dark places I could find, deep holes and crevices and dark closets. It became a game for me to get light into the most inaccessible places."

Papaderos kept the little mirror, and as he grew up it became more and more important to him; it became a symbol of his life. In fact, that little mirror helped keep his focus on what was really important to him.

The old professor held the mirror up and said, "You see, I have found my vision, my reason to be alive, I shine the light into every dark corner I can find. That, Sir, is the meaning of my life."

Motivation

The task this week is to spend whatever time it takes to get serious about
the answer to the essential question: "What's really important to me?"

In this task you will face many distractions, some real and some figments
of your own imagination. I will be praying for God to empower you with
persistence and insight.

Start with what it is that brings you joy. When you've discovered that...it will
lead you to what matters most--to what's really important to you.
And, that will help you find your vision... So the journey begins.