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Living a life greater than selfish ambition
Church in the Community - Media Release in the Herald: 24th October 2022
Source: TCN / Margo Scholtz
Date Added: 2022-10-24
Category: General News, TCN News, Issues - General, Issues - Parenting,
Date Added: 2022-10-24
Category: General News, TCN News, Issues - General, Issues - Parenting,
As parents, confronted with the mind-boggling barrage of things we believe are not doing, we ask ourselves:
As a parent, am I doing enough?
Am I instilling the right things into my children that will best set them up to face this ever-changing world?
That gnawing sinking feeling of “guilt” or “failure” which every parent experiences at some point.
A Forbes website headline poses another variable:
“Robots will take our place and we need a plan.”
The article explores a very current generational challenge that we are faced with, you’ve heard it before.
It questions what skills we should be developing especially in our younger generation, in this world where growing artificial intelligence (AI) seems to be taking over so many human tasks.
Dad and writer for the New York Times, Alex Williams, in his article “Will Robots Take Our Children’s Jobs” gave voice to a question which I suspect silently echoes in the inner dialogue of many parents’ minds: “So am I paranoid? Or not paranoid enough?”
One of the major points that these and other articles drive home, is that we need to be raising a generation with unparalleled, unsurpassed Soft Human skills like no other generation before it. Skills such as (yes) problem solving and creativity, but more importantly, skills such as empathy, faithfulness, loyalty, acting in the best interests of others and... Trust.
All the skills that cannot be programmed into a robot.
One of the things they are saying is - given two similar companies, with the same product, made by the same robots - what is going to set your company apart? What will make the customer come to you and not your competitor?
Top of the list: Trust.
The consumer market will choose the company they can trust to (amongst other things) act in the best interests of the customer, follow through on their big sales promises etc.
Research is concluding that these are skills which will become even more paramount to setting one company apart from another, differentiating one brand from another and giving one employee the competitive edge over another, when it comes to job hunting.
But here, analysts foresee a problem: soft skills are not qualities that can be acquired overnight.
It is evident that business leaders are recognising that to find an employee (and potential future leader) who possesses this quality of trust, you’re actually looking for a candidate who genuinely and authentically lives for something greater than just their own benefit.
Someone who lives for something greater than just selfish ambition. Someone externally-focused, who has let that mindset and way of thinking seep deep into the very fabric of who they are.
Mother Theresa was once asked to speak at an event where some of the most powerful leaders of the world were present, including (the then President) Bill Clinton.
The small-framed little lady, who could hardly see over the podium that day, proceeded to speak passionately and with great conviction about her view on a matter – a view which was completely opposed to the outspoken stance which the president and his wife held.
And everybody in the room knew it.
Her comments drew a standing ovation but needless to say, this created a rather awkward moment for the president.
It is reported, that in an interview afterwards, the president was asked what his response was to Mother Theresa’s view. President Clinton responded this way: He said: “it is very difficult to argue with a life so well lived”.
No human is without failing, but if you get this right - If you choose the kind of life where your purpose is greater than just You - then nobody will be able to argue with you on matters that really count.
Not even the president of a powerful country!
One of the very best things we can do for our children is to help them find the true source that is able fuel this kind of living.
Mark 12 teaches us to love God and to love our neighbour. The first (loving God) fuels our ability to do the second (love others).
Imagine if we succeed in raising a generation who have the courage to live a life so valuable, significant, and others-oriented, that it can never be replaced by even the best, most significant droid.
Is this the only thing we have to do as parents?
Undeniably, no.
But, if we get this right, we’ll be a whole lot closer to successfully answering that question: “as a parent, am I doing enough?”
With all the many things we cannot fix, perhaps we could focus a little more on this one question: what am I doing today to contribute more towards raising the right kind of person for our city and its better future?
Margo Scholtz
Ladies Ministry: Harvest Christian Church.
As a parent, am I doing enough?
Am I instilling the right things into my children that will best set them up to face this ever-changing world?
That gnawing sinking feeling of “guilt” or “failure” which every parent experiences at some point.
A Forbes website headline poses another variable:
“Robots will take our place and we need a plan.”
The article explores a very current generational challenge that we are faced with, you’ve heard it before.
It questions what skills we should be developing especially in our younger generation, in this world where growing artificial intelligence (AI) seems to be taking over so many human tasks.
Dad and writer for the New York Times, Alex Williams, in his article “Will Robots Take Our Children’s Jobs” gave voice to a question which I suspect silently echoes in the inner dialogue of many parents’ minds: “So am I paranoid? Or not paranoid enough?”
One of the major points that these and other articles drive home, is that we need to be raising a generation with unparalleled, unsurpassed Soft Human skills like no other generation before it. Skills such as (yes) problem solving and creativity, but more importantly, skills such as empathy, faithfulness, loyalty, acting in the best interests of others and... Trust.
All the skills that cannot be programmed into a robot.
One of the things they are saying is - given two similar companies, with the same product, made by the same robots - what is going to set your company apart? What will make the customer come to you and not your competitor?
Top of the list: Trust.
The consumer market will choose the company they can trust to (amongst other things) act in the best interests of the customer, follow through on their big sales promises etc.
Research is concluding that these are skills which will become even more paramount to setting one company apart from another, differentiating one brand from another and giving one employee the competitive edge over another, when it comes to job hunting.
But here, analysts foresee a problem: soft skills are not qualities that can be acquired overnight.
It is evident that business leaders are recognising that to find an employee (and potential future leader) who possesses this quality of trust, you’re actually looking for a candidate who genuinely and authentically lives for something greater than just their own benefit.
Someone who lives for something greater than just selfish ambition. Someone externally-focused, who has let that mindset and way of thinking seep deep into the very fabric of who they are.
Mother Theresa was once asked to speak at an event where some of the most powerful leaders of the world were present, including (the then President) Bill Clinton.
The small-framed little lady, who could hardly see over the podium that day, proceeded to speak passionately and with great conviction about her view on a matter – a view which was completely opposed to the outspoken stance which the president and his wife held.
And everybody in the room knew it.
Her comments drew a standing ovation but needless to say, this created a rather awkward moment for the president.
It is reported, that in an interview afterwards, the president was asked what his response was to Mother Theresa’s view. President Clinton responded this way: He said: “it is very difficult to argue with a life so well lived”.
No human is without failing, but if you get this right - If you choose the kind of life where your purpose is greater than just You - then nobody will be able to argue with you on matters that really count.
Not even the president of a powerful country!
One of the very best things we can do for our children is to help them find the true source that is able fuel this kind of living.
Mark 12 teaches us to love God and to love our neighbour. The first (loving God) fuels our ability to do the second (love others).
Imagine if we succeed in raising a generation who have the courage to live a life so valuable, significant, and others-oriented, that it can never be replaced by even the best, most significant droid.
Is this the only thing we have to do as parents?
Undeniably, no.
But, if we get this right, we’ll be a whole lot closer to successfully answering that question: “as a parent, am I doing enough?”
With all the many things we cannot fix, perhaps we could focus a little more on this one question: what am I doing today to contribute more towards raising the right kind of person for our city and its better future?
Margo Scholtz
Ladies Ministry: Harvest Christian Church.
Source: TCN / Margo Scholtz
Date Added: 2022-10-24
Category: General News, TCN News, Issues - General, Issues - Parenting,
Back to News IndexDate Added: 2022-10-24
Category: General News, TCN News, Issues - General, Issues - Parenting,
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