About
I was born to arguably the most privileged class in the history of the world–a white Protestant male in post-WWII America. I was educated at one of the most prestigious preparatory schools in this country and an Ivy League college. I married, had children (and now grandchildren), and worked for some of the best-known companies in America.
During my doctoral program in education, one professor shared an essay called How to Teach a Cow a Damn Good Lesson. I don’t recall the lesson he intended, but the story continues to hold great relevance for me. It told how diary farmers supposedly get new cows into the right stall for milking. The cow enters the aisle and sticks her head into a feeding station. If it’s the wrong one, the owner knocks her over the head with a 2×4. This continues until she finds the right one and, according to the story, she goes to the right one thereafter.
Dairy cows must be smarter than humans because it always takes us many whacks over the head by our owner before we find our way into the right stall and stay there, if we ever do.
God has whacked me at least three times, most recently with an extended period of unemployment, during which time He’s taught me a lot of “damn good lessons” through some of the most remarkable writers and speakers of our time.
Recently, I’ve been asking God why He waited so long to show me these insights and why now, when I need to find another source of income. This morning, he answered me in a quiet inner voice that nearly knocked me down” “I’ve been trying,” He said. “You just weren’t listening.” That’s where the 2×4 of unemployment comes in.
In 1996, I was unemployed for six months, and I had a powerful sense of mission, writing a 250,000-word tone (Peculiar People). While much of the research and writing was difficult personal work, some of the scenes came to me unbidden, as if delivered from an external source. Within a week after finishing the novel (although it still needed editing), I received a job offer.
As the years passed, and I’ve failed to find a publisher for Peculiar People–despite many efforts–I began to question its purpose, but I still firmly believe it was a specific gift from God. Now, after another 2×4,maybe I’m starting to get the point–I have largely squandered the enormous privileges He bestowed on me.
As a result, I am now earnestly seeking how to use whatever time I have left being what He wants me to be and doing what He wants me to do.
September, 2009
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