GreatRidge Station

I do not regularly visit what one young girl called “The Mall of The Merica.” Last week, I had a couple of hours to spend before picking my wife up at the airport, and decided that this fabled mall might be worth another visit. The place is only about ten miles from our door, but despite that, it has been at least two years since I actually shopped there. And now, you are about to find out why.

One of my favorite places to visit is the pen store. It has taken on several names over the years, but the idea is still the same: Geek Heaven. I love fountain pens–real pens writing on real paper with real ink. It’s a wonderful feeling. This is the one store I go to on every visit to the mall.

On this particular visit, I saw a display case with a new product from a well known pen company. They now offer a product they call the “Perfect Pencil.” It consists of a sterling silver cap with a built-in pencil-sharpener, and five, yes, five wooden pencils. Now how much would you pay? The price: $485.00. If you doubt me, visit the site link above, and on the dropdown that says “The Collection,” select “The Perfect Pencil.”

Okay, on the off chance that there are any wealthy people reading this, if you have an extra $485 that you don’t know what to do with, please donate it here. I’ll give you five pencils, and good ones, at that. No offense intended, but it takes a special kind of dumb to think that $500 pencils are a good idea. Actually, on second thought, offense intended. Behold, consumerism at its most mindless.

As my dear wife pointed out, if the point is writing, you can buy a computer and a printer for that same $485. I assured her that writing was most certainly not the point.

In an effort to get in on the action, however, I’m offering the following deal:

• A metal pencil sharpener suitable for high-end European pencils
• Six, yes, six Derwent 6B (very soft) Graphic Pencils
• A suitable pencil case

I’m selling all of this (a $520 value) for only $51.89, plus $6 postage and handling. If you like a harder pencil, you can select another hardness rating for only $3.00 more per unit. In addition, I’m offering a 5% discount on orders of more than 10 sets. This is a way better use of your money.

Just remember: I’m here for you.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I read a lot. One of the things I stumbled across (which, no doubt, will interest my friend and long-distance colleague David Koyzis) was a prayer used by those individuals who paint icons in the Eastern Orthodox Church.

As I read it, I thought how appropriate it is as a leadership prayer. Here it is, in its entirety:

Teach me, Lord, to use wisely the time
which You have given me and to work well
without wasting a second.
Teach me to profit from my past mistakes
without falling into a gnawing doubt.
Teach me to anticipate the project without worry,
to imagine the work without despair
if it should turn out differently.
Teach me to unite haste and slowness,
serenity and ardor, zeal and peace.

Help me at the beginning of the work
when I am the weakest.
Help me in the middle of the work
when my attention must be sustained.
And especially fill all the emptiness of my work with Your Presence.
Lord, in all the work of my hands,
bestow Your Grace so that it can speak to others
and my mistake can speak to me alone.
Keep me in the hope of perfection,
without which I would lose heart,
yet keep me from achieving perfection,
for surely I would be lost in arrogance.

Purify my sight when I am doing poorly,
for one is never sure that the work will turn out badly;
Yet when I am doing well, one is never sure
that the work will turn out well.
Lord, let me never forget
that all knowledge is in vain unless there is work.
And all work is empty unless there is love.
And all love is hollow unless it binds me
both to others and to You.

Lord, teach me to pray with my hands, my arms, and all my strength.
Remind me that the work of my hands belongs to You
And that it is fitting to return this gift to You.
Yet, if I work for the pleasure of others,
like a flowering plant in the evening
I will wither.
But if I work for the love of goodness,
I will remain in goodness.
And the time to work for goodness and for Your Glory is now.

Consider this prayer as you go about your daily work, and remember that your work has meaning before God. Do not fall into the trap of believing that some work is secular and some work is sacred, but remember that for those who have repented and put their trust in Jesus Christ, everything is sacred. In the words of Abraham Kuyper, “There is not a square inch on the whole plain of human existence over which Christ, who is Lord over all, does not proclaim: ‘This is mine!’”

May we, like the iconographers, honor God through the work we do.

Someone once introduced me as a “vociferous reader.” I don’t often read outloud, and when I do, I rarely do shout, beller, or otherwise cause a commotion. Therefore, I must assume that he meant that I am a “voracious reader.” I hope so.

My reading, in fact, drives my wife nuts. I am easily distracted by words, and anything on paper demands to be read. That’s the easy part. These days, anything on the internet demands equal time. I know who invented Puffed Rice, but (in her words) can’t remember to put my morning coffee cup in the dishwasher.  She might argue that my reading has not improved her life. I would disagree, though. She admits to being happily married to me, and I suggest that it is my appetite for verbiage that makes me the fascinating human being that she thinks I am. I give myself far less credit. I am now and always shall be a bit dorky. There are no word nerds listed in the 100 most interesting people.

All that aside, we do what we do because of the way God wired us up. My interest in books and learning (which, Solomon has assured me, will have no end), have helped me to develop a meaningful–even useful–interest in leadership, education, organizational development, and program evaluation.

I heard an interview with the rebel educator John Taylor Gatto, and for all of his critcs, he made a great point: There is more to literacy than being able to read. He argued that there is passive literacy–the ability to take in information and make sense of it, but there is also active literacy–the ability to take what is learned and pass it along to others in a way that they can make sense of it. I love the concept, and I’ve found it particularly helpful in my work.

This blog is really my attempt to express some of the ideas that come into my life: To be a producer rather than solely a consumer of information. I do that in other ways, as well, through my teaching, my service as a leader, and my work as a consultant. There are limits however. Those things that I cannot express with words, I attempt to express with my life. That, my friends, is both frightening and humbling.

Now, please excuse me while I put my coffee cup in the dishwasher.