Beyond Mediocrity

I went to the fair yesterday. This was the first time I’ve been to the fair in over 10 years. The last 3 years I haven’t been allowed due to probation/supervision requirements. It was tons of fun!!!

I had forgotten how much I loved fair food. I didn’t go way overboard, but I enjoyed a gyro, deep fried oreos (because I was “coerced” into sharing…), cinnamon toasted pecans, and lemon shake ups. Oh, my!

In the afternoon I ducked out of work for a short while to film Asher’s first foot race. Last year Beth entered him in the diaper (crawling) derby. He didn’t do well then and he was a hoot this year, too! He took off and then turned around and ran back to the start line and beyond. Realizing he was going the wrong way he turned around and headed toward the finish line. But he stopped about half way and began turning in circles. All this time he still could have won because none of the other children in his heat had finished. After about three circles one little child found the finish line. Asher was probably more pleased with the rubber ball he got for just being in the race. I got the whole thing on video and Nelson said I did a pretty good job capturing the it!

We went back to the fair after Nelson and I got off work. We went with Beth, Ron, and Asher. Nelson played the role of indulger. He purchased an unlimited ride pass for Asher. I wish I could have bottled the joy in that child’s face. He loved every ride! It was just the best stuff ever.

This weekend I get to teach our Sunday school class. I wasn’t able to get my Potato Heads quick enough. I did win two lots of them on ebay. So that lesson will wait until next month and that’s okay. Instead, I will be doing the lesson on material from “Experiencing God.” In addition to presenting the seven realities of experiencing God I’m going to use a bit of information from a lecture I do on moving beyond mediocrity. Last week when I taught the class a new format unfolded as I taught and I let the class know what a neat thing it was. I’m going to take the information and cast it into a spiritual sense. We’re going to examine why we settle for mediocrity in our spiritual life. I believe the answer to mediocrity (or at least one of them) is passion. Here’s the bare bones of the chart that goes with that portion of the lecture:

(no self) Aimlessness, going through the motions
(self) Mediocrity, settling, staying comfortable and in the familiar
(selfish) Success, typically about money or achieving and acquiring
(selfless) Excellence, passion

Many go through life aimlessly and rarely get anywhere (positive, anyway). Many more get some direction and move into mediocrity but stay there because they are comfortable staying with what is familiar. While the first group has no awareness of who they are (no self) the second group does have some awareness, but don’t take the opportunities to improve themselves. If people develop goals and begin to achieve they find a road to success that they hadn’t realized possible. Now if things go well here, I believe people will move into the next level. If they get stuck in the loop of achieving and acquiring the focus stays on self and can shift into a new form of mediocrity.

What it takes to move to excellence is passion. With passion comes a focus on others that results in selflessness. At this point I use the illustration of Olympic athletes. They are driven to levels of excellence not typically for self gain but for country. (I know that’s not true for everyone, and if pushed too far any illustration can break down. Just consider the spirit of the illustration.)

That discussion then will lead me to ask the class to consider where they may be on the chart, and more specifically, where they may be spiritually. As a segue from that into Blackaby’s material I’m going to use a quote by Stephen Covey:

When you study the lives of all great achievers--those who have had the greatest influence on others, those who have made things happen--you will find a pattern. Through their persistent efforts and inner struggle, they have greatly expanded their four native human intelligences or capacities. The highest manifestations of these four intelligences are: for mental, vision; for the physical, discipline; for the emotional, passion; for the spiritual, conscience. These manifestations also represent our highest means of expressing our voice.

Stephen Covey (1932 - )
Source: The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness, Page: 65

We’ll see how it goes. I feel good about it. I must confess though, I was looking forward to the Potato Heads. Later for him…and for you! “)