Discussion Forum > A Guide to Making Your Values
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
September 25, 2015 at 10:36 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
Greg McKeown's "Most Important Hour" exercise is a good way to evaluate one's values and priorities. It's simple and very much in line with patristic guidance on self-reflection.
http://gregmckeown.com/blog/important-hour-life/
This has helped me clarify my values a lot: the only thing I can say with any certainty is that I need to get a lot more serious about repentance.
http://gregmckeown.com/blog/important-hour-life/
This has helped me clarify my values a lot: the only thing I can say with any certainty is that I need to get a lot more serious about repentance.
September 25, 2015 at 20:05 |
Seraphim
Seraphim
Seraphim:
<< the only thing I can say with any certainty is that I need to get a lot more serious about repentance. >>
If you don't mind taking advice from a Lutheran, Mother Basilea Schlink's "Repentance - The Joy-Filled Life" was a lot of help to me at one stage in my life. But I don't seem to still have a copy.
<< the only thing I can say with any certainty is that I need to get a lot more serious about repentance. >>
If you don't mind taking advice from a Lutheran, Mother Basilea Schlink's "Repentance - The Joy-Filled Life" was a lot of help to me at one stage in my life. But I don't seem to still have a copy.
September 25, 2015 at 20:24 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
There was a program on the radio this weekend that talked about repentance from a Jewish perspective. It mentioned that in the original language it was poetically/literally was associated with turning away from something. He said that even a 1 degree turn takes you to a completely different place, that is to say: even small changes in the right direction can make a huge difference. (I used to think of "repentance" as a much more drastic change in lifestyle.)
I just looked up the program info. It was Louis Newman. Here's the link http://www.onbeing.org/program/louis-newman-the-refreshing-practice-of-repentance/7923
(The previous week's program on Mindfulness and Mindlessness with Ellen Langer was also very eye-opening. She talked about mindfulness being the state where you notice new things, which doesn't require meditation as we usually think. I ended up buying her book (which I'm still reading). http://www.onbeing.org/program/ellen-langer-science-of-mindlessness-and-mindfulness/6332 )
I just looked up the program info. It was Louis Newman. Here's the link http://www.onbeing.org/program/louis-newman-the-refreshing-practice-of-repentance/7923
(The previous week's program on Mindfulness and Mindlessness with Ellen Langer was also very eye-opening. She talked about mindfulness being the state where you notice new things, which doesn't require meditation as we usually think. I ended up buying her book (which I'm still reading). http://www.onbeing.org/program/ellen-langer-science-of-mindlessness-and-mindfulness/6332 )
September 25, 2015 at 21:17 |
Don R
Don R
Don R:
I don't know enough Hebrew to comment on that, but certainly the Septuagint (the pre-Christian translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek) translates the Hebrew verb with μετανοέω (metanoeo) which has the primary meaning of "to change one's mind or purpose". This was then adopted by the New Testament writers. So for example when Christ says "Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand" that is the word he is quoted as using (though he was probably actually speaking in Aramaic).
Thanks for the links. They both sound worth checking out.
I don't know enough Hebrew to comment on that, but certainly the Septuagint (the pre-Christian translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek) translates the Hebrew verb with μετανοέω (metanoeo) which has the primary meaning of "to change one's mind or purpose". This was then adopted by the New Testament writers. So for example when Christ says "Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand" that is the word he is quoted as using (though he was probably actually speaking in Aramaic).
Thanks for the links. They both sound worth checking out.
September 25, 2015 at 22:55 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
I checked the program and found about 8 minutes in, that the word he mentioned was Teshuvah. The root word shuv means return. After some web searching trying to figure out if/where it actually shows up in the bible anywhere for comparison I've gotten nowhere and my head is spinning. One webpage mentioned Deuteronomy 4:30 but I'm not sure I can see it in the Hebrew transliteration. Apparently there is some discussion of it in the Talmud but I have no background in that. Once you translate metanoeoe into Latin as doing penance it gets yet another meaning. I'm not religious anyway, so boiling it down to acknowledging the truth about yourself and returning to it is appealing to me anyway, regardless of religious matters.
September 26, 2015 at 17:48 |
Don R
Don R
Don R:
<< One webpage mentioned Deuteronomy 4:30 but I'm not sure I can see it in the Hebrew transliteration. >>
It appears as וְשַׁבְתָּ veshavta - the וְ ve part meaning "and" - and you shall return.
On this occasion the Greek translates it as ἐπιστραφήσῃ epistraphisi. The Latin uses reverteris. They all mean much the same thing.
Your summary of what it means is about right, if you leave out the part about its being God they will be returning to.
<< One webpage mentioned Deuteronomy 4:30 but I'm not sure I can see it in the Hebrew transliteration. >>
It appears as וְשַׁבְתָּ veshavta - the וְ ve part meaning "and" - and you shall return.
On this occasion the Greek translates it as ἐπιστραφήσῃ epistraphisi. The Latin uses reverteris. They all mean much the same thing.
Your summary of what it means is about right, if you leave out the part about its being God they will be returning to.
September 26, 2015 at 19:48 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
Moral Imperative (the right way of doing things) + Business Imperative (the smart way of doing things) = Improved health outcome (patient satisfaction)
It opened my eyes to what Jesus Christ said in Matthew 10:16: "Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves." It excited me so much that the moment I went home from that orientation I got a few papers and a pen and started reading, researching, brainstorming and meditating.
St Francis de Sales said that the science of holiness is distilled to two things: to do well, and to suffer well. What he means is that if you want to be a saint, you must keep on doing good even when the going gets tough, not just when everything is easy. It has been the model I have been using for quite a while in doing stuff.
Combining that model with what I learned from that orientation, I came up with
(The right way of doing things + The smart way of doing things) x (The right way to suffer + The smart way to suffer) = Profit
I determined I can use this to be a guide to making my values, the guiding principles for choosing what my goals are and for getting those goals through thick and thin.
I am running out of time right now, so I will just give what I was able to think of as my own values system coming out of all that brainstorming etc., and when I get back I will explain them.
(Generosity + Understanding) x (Trust + Steadiness) = Excellence + Satisfaction