Thank You: A Conversation with Wisdom

Oh, how I love thee, Wisdom.

For you have become to me like a sister;
you have made insight my closest of friends.

Every day you come and visit me,
Staying long, dwelling in my home.
You gently speak, sometimes loudly shout,
Your words are the greatest of treasures; I hold them very close to my heart.

Where would I be without you!
What would I have become?

For my own strength would have been counted as the dust,
my efforts as a futile pursuit.

But you, Wisdom, are a lamp to my feet, a light to my path,
A help, a guide, my daily companion.

Home

How beautiful would the song of the angels have been,
as they welcomed them home.

The beauty that was promised to be seen,
now gazed upon.

His fullness now experienced in a form of entirety,
As we gaze into the eyes of eternity.

How beautiful are his feet,
they carried good news.
His eyes are like fire,
his hair is as wool.
His voice like the sound of many waters,
yet it stills my soul.

How beautiful is the song of the angels,
as we are welcomed home.

Spoken word version of Home

Shadows and Giants

I awake, and heavy is my heart,
In the blue chair I sit, staring out of the window,
Straight into the darkness,
Inside or out, I cannot tell the difference.

A heavy heart.

Thinking of all the things I should and should not have done,
The things I need to do, that weigh, that ache, that whisper deep inside and won’t let go.

Then, I saw it.

My creation,
Pulled from the depths of my emotion and imagination,
Sparked to life,
My picture.

Inside or out, I cannot tell the difference,

The boy and the giant,
The staff and the sword,
The stone and the spear,
The sling and the javelin,
The impossible versus the done,
David and his Goliath.

The giant, staring down,
The boy, focused and determined,

Knowing, that by all means, this giant, his giant, will indeed come, tumbling, down.

Spaces In-Between: A Conversation

“I’m in a season of coolness,” I said to her. “You know, I wake up, and it’s not all at 100. I’m learning, but it’s all very manageable.”

I paused… “But I know that I need to get going, move into the next thing, where I’m stretched, and can feel and know it continually.”

She smiled.

“It’s ok to have seasons of it being cool. We can learn as much in those times, as we do in the stretch and busy times.”

I reflected on the statement. It was true. I had become clearer on the important things to me, what and who brought me joy. Which things were useless, just a chasing of the wind.

She saw my reflection, and gave me a few seconds…

“Leave space open for other things to fill the space,” she said.

That was powerful to me.

Because, you never know what beautiful things will come in – if you let them.

Swings

A poem by Zephaniah

“Higher, higher, higher!” she shouts,

“You’re not pushing me, high enough!

I want to touch the sky,

Put my head in the clouds,

See the sun, the stars, the moon.”

“Careful… careful”, he responds,

“Not too high now, what if you fall.

It’s dangerous and scary, what if you hurt yourself?”

“I won’t hurt myself,” she replies,

Smiling, she looks out, assured,

“You’ll be there to catch me if I fall.”

Listen to Swings recited by Zephaniah.

Waiting

I waited,

I saw only shadows, figures of the night,

Tall and ominous, immovable, unknown.

But, I waited.

They were now pointing, scowling, rough,

I stared back, one seemed to stir, to make a move,

But, I waited.

The shadows started to emerge, the light of dawn started to arise, as I sat at my window’s post, as the sun arose,

The truth unveiled by my waiting,

I saw those shadows and figures for what they truly were,

Those scowling shadows, once ominous and immovable, unknown,

Those figures of the night, that cause doubt and fear,

Simply, just, trees and houses.

The Bird in My Garden

A poem by Zephaniah.

“How I long to be as free as a bird,

Hopping among the leaves,

Gliding from tree to tree,

The entire world is my playground,

The work of others is my feed,

I see and bask in all of creation, and its creativity,

Its energy. Come rain, sun or storm,

I’m always reminded that I am free.

Then I stopped looking at the bird in my garden,

And I’m reminded that the bird is me.”

Narrated version of The Bird in My Garden

The Blessing of the Morning

There is something precious about the morning. Quiet, full of promise that some new hope may be given in the new upcoming day.

An excerpt from “The Psalms: Prayer Book of the Bible” by Bonhoeffer, Dietrich

The Blessing of Morning Prayer

“From the unity it has attained, the whole day takes its order and discipline. This unity must be sought and found in morning prayer and will prove itself in work.

Prayer in the early morning is crucial for the whole day. Wasted time of which we are ashamed, temptations to which we succumb, feebleness and lethargy at work, disorder and indiscipline in our thoughts and in our intercourse with other people—these more often than not have their cause in the neglect of morning prayer.

The ordering and arrangement of our time will be more positive when it is the outcome of prayer. Temptations which the working day brings with it will be conquered if there has been real encounter with God.

Decisions demanded by our work will come more easily and readily when they are made not in the fear of others, but simply before the face of God. ‘And whatsoever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men’ (Col. 3:23).

Even mechanical tasks will be carried out with greater patience, when they are recognized as tasks laid on us by God. Increased energy for work will be ours when we have asked God to give us today the strength our work requires.”

A few cool things for the weekend

I read quite a bit. Sometimes the volume varies. Anything from multiple hours to minutes. Anything from audio books and podcasts, blogs and newspapers articles to hardbacks and twitter.

I’ve had people ask me continually for years (literally) – Zeph, what are you reading? I’ve promised to share some of it more broadly for ages… and now I’m finally doing it. I’ll try and share on a weekly basis, cool/interesting things, I’ve read/am reading, listened to, watched etc..

Here is this weeks list:

  1. Charlie Munger: The Psychology of Human Misjudgement  – Cool animation of Charlie Munger (business partner of Warren Buffet – world’s 9th richest man) talking about how human’s think they are making good decision’s – but actually aren’t.
  2. Diversity, Inclusion and Equity. Always something i’m trying to understand more about generally, and for me to be effective in my leadership roles at work. Interesting read on the meaning of Diversity
  3. Me learning life lessons from an Ikea Bookshelf.
  4. Nassim Taleb tweeted a list of really really interesting aphorisms (observations) about life.
  5.  If you have children. My 1 and 3 year old, loved Vivo on Netflix. Sitting down to watch it start to finish on multiple occasions. It’s a good one for adults to. Catchy songs, witty lines and a cool story-line.  

“The Proverbs On” Series: My mini tweets on what the Book of Proverbs in the bible teaches us on life.

The Proverbs On: “The Benefits of Honesty and aiming to live a straight, sincere and truthful life”

“People with integrity walk safely, but those who follow crooked paths will be exposed.” Proverbs 10:9

Have a great week.

Zeph

Thinking about Understanding

Definition

understanding
noun

UK /ˌʌn.dəˈstæn.dɪŋ/

⁃ Knowledge about a subject, situation, or about how something works
⁃ Sympathetic awareness or tolerance
⁃ A psychological process related to an abstract or physical object, whereby one is able to think appropriately and use adequate concepts to deal with that object.

Some of the ways I think about improving my level of understanding:

1. Go over the same thing over and over again over a prolonged period of time*
2. Staying, learning and mediating on a topic for a long time, rather than moving quickly to something new**
3. By asking questions to people who show an open understanding of topics, or who have over time demonstrated and shown success in specific areas, and then allowing them to speak and get into their flow over time
4. By staying around people of understanding for a long time or for prolonged periods of time especially when they are executing or planning an idea, project or plan
5. By praying everyday for a mindset and Spirit of Understanding
6. By having and demonstrating belief in a person of understanding and going along with what they are saying and/or doing , even though it may not make any sense to you at the current stage

*Dag Heward Mills — The determinants
** Dag Heward Mills — The determinants