A man goes to see his rabbi... “When you get some good news, you thank the Lord, and when you get some bad news, you praise the Lord.” “Of course,” replies the man, “I should have remembered. But Rabbi, how do you know which is the good news and which is the bad news?” The rabbi smiles. “ You are wise, my son. So just to be on the safe side, always thank the Lord.”
From The Art of Possibility (p.105)
Living in Harmony by Laura Molina 2007 (Student)
This chapter reminds me of Eve’s apple in Garden Aden in the book of Genesis chapter 3 as well as the last verse in the book of Judges. (Judges 21:25 In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes.)
People judge what is good or bad and everyone has different standards, which cause chaos in the world. Individuals are self-righteous and judge others according to their rules. Bible calls it “sin.” That’s why we fight, conflict and hurt each other. The only way to avoid is to humbly accept the fact that I can be wrong. According to Bible, human beings are born with the natural sin, the sin of wanting to be the judge of right and wrong, which has been ascended from Adam and Eve. It comes from self-righteousness and egocentric view. We are so egocentric that we don’t even realize how egocentric we are. No one is free from that sin. (Romans 3:10 as it is written: “There is no one who is righteous, not even one;) I am not being pessimistic here. After reading the passage above from the Art of Possibility, I saw that how natural it is to made judgments and come to negative conclusions on my own based on what I see in the present reality. I too often quickly come to negative, so called “realistic”, conclusions without realizing until I think twice with third point of view from other people.
For example, Catholic church banned Bob Dylan’s electric guitar bands because there were more than one musical part playing at a time. They thought it confuse the concept of unity in God. (Levitin, 2006) The church committee decided to ban certain kinds of music based on their perception and it no longer applies to the modern society. Music itself is not something that has good or evil. It’s people who plays and listens to the music and put good or evil intention or expression in it.
As I read this chapter of The Art of Possibility, I affirmed that I should watch out my decision or judgment on people or situations, especially the negative ones that I thought was realistic. It is continuation of last week’s reading that I was deciding someone’s future or potential too quick from my observation. I can be very wrong and I should open up my eyes to possibilities in others.
I want to share the video on Team Hoyt, a great exemplary case of showing the art of possibility in their lives.
References:
Levitin, D.J. (2006). This is your brain on music: The science of a human obsession. Penguin Group. NY, NY.
The new oxford annotated bible. (2001). Oxford University Press, INC. NY,NY.
Zander, B. & Zander, R.S. (1995). The art of possibility. Harvard Business School Press. Boston, MA.
Amazing video. Thank you for sharing. :-)
ReplyDeleteSoyeon, it was great to see you make those connections between the book and religion. I too am a person who tends to think more negatively, and attribute it to thinking "realistically." I think it is becoming harder and harder to not be that kind of person in today's society. Our news and headlines are plastered with negativity, we see it in our students lives and in some cases our won lives. That type of thinking easily flows out in to other aspects of our life, including our judgment of others. Thanks for a little perspective Soyeon.
ReplyDeleteCalvin Jones
ReplyDeleteI was amazed the way you made those connections there so many ways to see this I never went there but you make so much sense. I am often a victim of quick judgment because of my role as directing manager of my schools performance arts center. I am the one that have to explain the rules and restrictions of the facility, this sometimes conflict with what people have in mind so I am seen as inflexible and stern. I was once taking snap judgments myself when people reacted strongly to what I had to say by the time the show is over I would come to see that most were great people with the vision for their production altered. This is what experience has taught me, so I learned what the book says the long and sometimes the hard way. Once people spend a few moments around me the mostly warm up and things go well, keeping my attitude in check helps the process to go even faster.
Soyeon- Your response really made me think. As this year at school is winding down I find myself making many decisions or judgments about how my class is behaving. The quote from the book is a powerful one. I do find myself saying thank you when everything is going well and asking why when things are tough. It makes me think that all things happen for a reason, the good and bad the ugly. I need to change my mind set back to positive and that everything happens for a reason and that I may not see the good in things at the time there is a reason.
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