Yesterday…
…Reading Charles Marsh’s ‘Too hard for God’… It’s 1945. The war’s ended. Marsh returns to Algeria, continuing the work that his God has called him to. There’s a desperate famine:
‘Some men managed to keep a bushel or two of wheat for sowing. These men were faced with a hard choice. They could sow this corn or use it to feed their families. It could be sown or eaten, one thing or the other. There was not enough to do both…’
The hard choice: food or hunger…
Marsh has similar hard choices: – living a comfortable life, doing what he wants, enjoying today’s wheat; or living a hard life, serving his God and others, sowing for a future harvest.
…Watching former England football manager Sir Gareth Southgate deliver the Richard Dimbleby Lecture…
It’s 1996. The Euros semi-final. England lose to Germany. Southgate misses a penalty: ‘Missing that penalty was undoubtedly a watershed moment that made me stronger, a better man. It forced me to dig deep, and revealed an inner belief and resilience I never knew existed…’
‘…Each of you will face your own version of that penalty moment… you didn’t do as well as you hoped to in an exam… you get rejected from a job… someone has let you down.
BUT in that moment, you have a choice: do you let disappointment define you? Do you give up? Or do you get back up, learn from it, and keep going?
That choice – the ability to build belief, to find resilience – is what makes the difference…’
The hard choice: letting disappointment define me or building belief and resilience.
‘…I believe, as a society, we must do more to help young people, and especially young men, make the right choices in life.’
…Charles Marsh’s hard choice… Enjoying retirement, doing what I want, eating today’s wheat – who knows about tomorrow? …Or serving, sowing grains of wheat, helping others with their good life choices, preparing for a harvest I may never see…
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