Categories
motivation

Imagination is More Important Than Knowledge

Sketch of a blob monster

Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.

Albert Einstein

Yes, I wondered if Einstein really said this too, According to the link, Einstein said it in a 1929 interview with my old employer, The Saturday Evening Post. I wish I would have known that when I was an intern there. Alas, it was before the Internet and would have required some clue where to look in the archives.

I agree with this quote because knowledge is based on what we do know. It is based on facts and research. We rely on scholars and historians to reveal what is known and has been known.

Imagination makes things possible. True, there probably won’t be a green and purple polka dot blob at your door today, but no building, no goal, nothing made in the future can happen without someone imagining it can be done.

Imagination is a powerful tool. Imagination with fear can make awful things a reality. Imagination with a positive attitude, love and desire to create can change the world in mighty ways.

Categories
motivation

Stay on track!

Nothing great was ever done without much enduring.

St. Catherine of Sienna

Patient endurance is a quality that is in short supply these days. Marketing appeals to our need for instant gratification. The problem with that is the feeling of being gratified is gone as quickly as it came.

  • Businesses take a short term approach and are concerned with quarterly profits
  • We want our needs met and we want them met now, even if it means going into debt
  • We want that loved one to meet our needs even if theirs aren’t being met and they have a hundred things to do at the moment

But the truly great things that satisfy take time and patience.

  • Planting a garden
  • Raising healthy, independent children
  • Growing a business that lasts
  • Changing a community for the better

If you have a vision of something great, stay with it through the messy middles. There will be interruptions. There will be times something else sounds better. Be so patient it makes the hotheads want to put up their dukes because they can’t stand it!

Categories
motivation

I Never Met a Man I Didn’t Like

Cartoon of a boy and a radiant girl. The boy says, "How can I keep my bad attitude with you glowing like that?"

I never met a man I didn’t like.

Will Rogers

The other day, I read the book, I Never Met a Man I Didn’t Like: The Life and Writings of Will Rogers. I’ve been interested in his work since I was a teen because he had a way of sounding plain-spoken, funny and thought-provoking all at once.

I find this quote quite profound. Is there truly something likable about everyone no matter how bad or evil they appear? Can you say the same about a serial killer? A dictator?

To me, this is another way to say, Love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you. There is something in the soul of every man and woman that is good, whether they show it or not. At the same time, each human heart has an evil, dark side, whether they show it or not.

During this Christmas season of love, hope, and joy, may we find the likable in everyone. May there be peace on earth, goodwill to all.

Categories
holiday

First Sunday of Advent

Single lit Advent Candle
Cartoon of a boy rejoicing because Christmas is coming
Christmas is Coming! ©2006Kevin Spear

I love this time of year because the anticipation is building. True, yesterday, I lamented how Christmas music in some areas has been playing for a month. but this is where the excitement of Christmas becomes real.

This morning, I get to teach the lesson to our elementary kids at Salem church. We will start with the prophecies in Isaiah 9, 53 and Micah 5. In churches across the world, the first candle of Advent will be lit.

In the darkness, a single candle of hope begins. After a few days of Thanksgiving and gratitude for the present, we can focus on hope and anticipation for the future.

Categories
motivation

And Now Comes the Christmas Music!

Cartoon of Scrooge and the ghost of Jacob Marley. Marley says, "You will be visited by three spirits: The Ghost of Christmas Past, Ghost of Christmas present, and Ghost of Christmas Mall Music."

Earlier this month, my wife and I made a trip to celebrate our daughter’s engagement. By “earlier,” I mean it was November 3rd. As we were traveling back, I made a stop at a Jacksonville, Florida gas station. When we entered the store, we heard It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year. The Halloween candy was still for sale next to a display of jolly old Saint Nick.

We complain about the Christmas season come earlier and earlier each year. We’ve been doing this for decades. And I’m sorry to say, businesses will keep doing it until it doesn’t work anymore. People tend to take something seasonal and successful and expand it until it loses its meaning. We want more of something good until we have so much of it, it sickens us.

Personally, I didn’t mind the Christmas music and the early decorations. However, I can imagine the clerk wasn’t thrilled about hearing the music for the next two months. We may need to give retail clerks a little extra grace this year. The Christmas merchandising season, along with its soundtrack, came way too early!