Extra, Extra: Never Give Up

This weekend I was an extra in a short film our 16-year old granddaughter, Lindsey Whitus, wrote, produced and directed, The Sins of Man. My role was to open a door, close it, pause for 10-second count then walk forward.

The first take I flubbed opening the door. The second take I failed to close the door firmly and it blew open. The third and forth takes I forgot to count to 10.

The aide to the assistant director said, "Maybe we should take grand pop out of the scene and get a younger person to do it."

Only because my granddaughter was the director did I get to try one more time and I nailed it. When the film is edited, however, my part may be cut.

All of us are cut from time to time. We don't get the role; we don't make the team; we don't get a prom date; we don't get in the college we wanted; we don't get the job; we don't get the promotion; we don't find a publisher for our manuscript. 

I once had my book, Complete Mental Health, rejected 136 times before I found a publisher, WW Norton.... And then the book flopped. It didn't sell.

All of us fail. All are cut. All of us lose. All are rejected. Life is difficult.

Perseverance is the key to overcoming defeat. During WW II German bombing pulverized England. Many wanted to surrender. Winston Churchill inspired Great Britain to keep fighting with a series of speeches. One of the most memorable is the following phrase:

Never give up; never give up, never, never, never, never in nothing, great or small, large or petty. Never give in except to convictions or honor and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of [rejection].

Thomas Edison the inventor of the phonograph, film, the movie camera and the recipient of 1,093 patents failed to find over 1,000 fibers before discovering the tungsten wire filament for the light bulb that lit up the world. Edison said:

The greatest weakness is giving up. The most certain way to success is to try one more time.

Janus Revisited: The Two Sides of Facebook

Facebook has fantastic attributes allowing friends and family to keep in touch. Many Facebook entries are as lovely as springtime blossoms: endearing memories; raindrops on roses; love and laughter; poems and prayers; care and concern; kittens and puppies; horses and rodeos; babies and children; mothers and fathers. 

...but there are some downsides too. My son-in-law, Greg Whitus, wrote this to his Facebook friends:

Well my friends, it's time to leave Facebook. Over the last 2-years, Facebook has become a platform for some of the most vile, hateful stuff that I've ever seen. People can share the most hateful and despicable stuff without having to look in the eyes of the person they are attacking or offending. In short, compassion and empathy has been replaced by confrontation and hatred. I've seen friends attack friends and family members attack family members. Relationships have been destroyed or are in the process of being destroyed. We've lost the ability to reason, discuss and debate our ideas and differences of opinion. We retreat into our echo chambers where we are being fed material that matches our thoughts while we ignore opinions different from ours. We view those whose opinions differ from ours as enemies who must be defeated. Our prejudicial words fan the flames of hatred and anger--consequences be damned. I choose to no longer be a part of it.

How do we know if Facebook is an enemy to our souls? Here are a few ideas:

1.   If Facebook entries cause us to get angry.

2.   If entries produce envy or jealousy.

3.   If our personal entries cause us to feel superior to others.

4.   If entries make us competitive.

5.   If we become depressed, despondent or melancholy after visiting Facebook.

6.   If we feel inferior to others when viewing Facebook. 

7.   If we feel lonely when viewing Facebook entries.

Remembering Albert Schweitzer

            In 1912 Albert Schweitzer established a primitive East Equatorial Africa hospital 200 miles upstream (14 days by raft) from the mouth of the Ogooué River. After using a former chicken hut for a clinic, he built his first hospital consisting of a consulting room, operating theatre, dispensary, and sterilizing room. The hospital would continue to grow through the years.

            In his autobiography, Out of My Life and Thought, Albert Schweitzer wrote that after deciding to pursue an academic life until he was 30-years old he would devote the rest of his life to the direct service of humanity. Schweitzer wanted to help people in a situation that was free as possible from bureaucratic entanglements. One evening in the autumn of 1904 while putting aside a magazine so that he could return to his academic work, his eye caught the title of an article, "The Needs of the Congo Missions." Problems ensued when his intentions became known:

            My relatives and my friends all joined in expostulating with me on the folly of my enterprise. I was a man, they said, who was burying the talent entrusted to him and wanted to trade with false currency. Work among savages I ought to leave to those who would not thereby be compelled to leave gifts and requirements in science and art unused. What seemed to my friends the most irrational thing in my plan was that I wanted to go to Africa, not as a missionary, but as a doctor, and thus when already thirty years of age burdened myself with a long period of laborious study. And that this study would mean for me a tremendous effort, I had no manner of doubt. I did, in truth, look forward to the next few years with dread. I wanted to be a doctor, however, that I might be able to work without having to talk. For years I had been giving myself out in words and it was with joy that I had followed the calling of theological teacher and of preacher, but with this new form of activity I wanted to put love into practice.

            While studying medicine from 1905-1913, Albert Schweitzer also delivered theological lectures, gave organ concerts, wrote on organ building, completed his scholarly work, Quest for the Historical Jesus, wrote a 844 page German edition of his book on Bach (an earlier version had been written in French), married, preached almost every Sunday, and raised money to establish a hospital in French Equatorial Africa. In establishing a medical center in the heart of Africa, Albert Schweitzer subordinated careers as organist and organ builder, writer, professor, theologian, philosopher, and historian. He surrendered comfort and cultural pursuits to become a spiritual adventurer who, through action, saved and promoted life. He wrote of the joy service brings:  

            Those who are so favored as to be able to embark on a course of free personal activity must accept this good fortune in a spirit of humility. They must often think of those who, though willing and capable, were never in the position to do the same. And as a rule they must temper their own strong determination with humility. They are almost always destined to have to seek and wait till they find a road open for the activity they long for. Happy are those who are able to give of themselves really and completely! Affirmation of life is the spiritual act by which man begins to devote himself to his life with reverence in order to raise it to its highest level. At the same time the man who has become a thinking being feels a compulsion to give to others the same reference for life he gives his own. He accepts as being good: to preserve life, to promote life, to raise to its highest value life which is capable of development. A man is ethical only when life is sacred to him and when he devotes himself to all life that is in need of help. 

            Albert Schweitzer was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952 for his commitment to serve humanity through thought and action. 

           

Everyone's Evangelist

In 1934, 15-year old Billy Frank time attended a tent revival in Charlotte, North Carolina. On the last verse of “Almost Persuaded, Now to Believe,” he committed his life to Christ.

After graduating from Wheaton College and the Florida Bible Institute 30-year old Graham and his supporters erected a tent in Los Angeles. The little-known evangelist his right arm punching the air, his Southern drawl radiating warmth, his Bible open in front of him inspired the crowd with his fervor. 

Newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst, told his editors to “puff Graham.” The crowds swelled. Following those weeks in Los Angeles his organization forged an unmatched, world-wide crusade.        

Billy Graham established a personal reputation built on integrity. He set standards to avoid any suggestion of scandal. Among them: Graham never traveled, or met or ate alone with a woman other than his wife.    

In his lifetime Graham preached to an estimated 215 million people in 185 countries and territories. He was the advisor to eight presidents; counseled numerous celebrities, athletes and world leaders and yet he remained humble…. And he never forgot the common man—the lonely, the misbegotten, the downcast.            

Ken Garfield contributing editor of the Charlotte Magazine, told of receiving a letter. Garfield had just written a personal column about the loneliness and melancholy he was feeling at the time. A letter in response came from Billy Graham who wrote that he just wanted to comfort him. “It is interesting,” Graham wrote, “how even in the midst of activity, in a crowd of people, or watching an interesting movie—we can have a sudden sense of loneliness. I have always felt that this is actually a loneliness that only God can fill. There are so many things in our Christian faith that I do not pretend to understand, nor do I have quick top-of-the-head answers for."            

Garfield went on to write: “Graham’s genuine concern for his fellow man allowed him to become a servant of God. The letter encouraged me to fill my lonely void with God—a simple message anyone could understand. The humble simplicity Graham demonstrated defined who he was.  Counsel delivered gently and a confession of uncertainty set him apart from the blow-dried religious celebrities who even today try to woo us with pat answers and their handouts.”