In The Purpose Driven Life Rick Warren states that life on earth is three things: a series of tests, a trust, and TRAINING. John Wooden built 10 national basketball championship teams with training, training, and more training; diverting attention from the scoreboard to drills and discipline. Wooden is arguably history’s greatest coach, and he never used the word “win” during his career. His mantra was “be at your best when your best is needed.”
Much of God’s training seems to occur when we’re not looking for it, or don’t recognize it. One of my all-time favorite movie moments occurs in The Karate Kid. You know the scene; Daniel(san) desperately wants to learn karate and anticipates that his teacher (Mr. Miyagi) will use traditional methods to get him there. Instead, Miyagi assigns Daniel to a series of seemingly meaningless chores – tedious, boring, and exhausting. After several days, Daniel gets his “Popeye” face on (“…that’s all I can stands I can’t stands no more…”) and threatens to bail:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4q0h8hBqv3M
Wham! One Velvet Hammer made to order right across the kisser. I love Daniel’s expression when the light comes on. He doesn’t see it coming, but when he “gets it”, he’s got if for good, and never doubts Miyagi again.
We’ve all had our share of divinely delivered Velvet Hammers, haven’t we? Times get tough or tedious, sometimes monotonous to the point of madness. A few months (or years) down the road we respond in a situation with information or skills learned in the “Tunnel” and then pick ourselves off the floor, jaw first.
We live in an era when education has defaulted to a one-size-fits-all cookie cutter approach, laser focused on literacy without regards to learning styles and the essential development of creativity. Please take a few minutes to watch this humorous, but incredibly insightful discussion by Sir Ken Robinson at the TED Conference in Monterey, CA:
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/66
How does your son learn? Sitting, moving, listening, watching, etc.? Life’s lessons, those concerning character, discernment, and decisions can’t be learned, for the most part, in a classroom. What “hammers” can you create that will best fit your son’s learning style and leave him with pupils dilated and jaw on the floor? Time invested in this type of training will help him now and in the future to be at his best when his best is needed.
Recommended (that’s putting it mildly) reading: Wooden on Leadership by my hero, Coach John Wooden.
