Faith Venture

A group of academic psychology researchers conducted a longitudinal study of children. It wasn’t long term, but did take place over a time period. They were curious about growth versus static mindset. A task was given to a group of kids. Some kids were given feedback that involved verbs—you worked well, you did your practice consistently, and so forth. Another group was given noun feedback—you are so smart, you are a good athlete, and so forth.

Later, the kids were given a similar task. The ones praised with nouns, did not perform better. The ones praised with verbs continued to improve.

I’m standing on the mezzanine at the FMC Natatorium in Westmont, IL. Soon competition at the Illinois club state finals will commence. I brought my granddaughter who made the 800 meter freestyle relay team for her club that qualified from the regional championships. There must be hundreds of young athletes here who have worked hard all season in order to qualify to be here. 

Starting at the beginning of the season when as a younger person in her age group she didn’t think she had a shot at the regionals. I told her every week, just be a little better this week than last. And at the end of the season she swam in eight events at the regionals. I’m sure all of the other swimmers have a similar story.

We adults pursuing the spiritual life may feel like these kids at the beginning of the season. There is no way we can infuse all this spiritual teaching and practice into our lives. But 1% better every day. We consistently read daily. We consistently meditate daily. We consistently pray daily. We perform acts of service as often as we can. 

Then if we pause at the end of a month or year, we can see how our life has changed. We don’t only know the fruit of the spirit, that fruit is even more present in our daily life. We feel at peace. We exhibit more patience. We live with a warm inner joy. People notice our love of others, our kindness, goodness, faithfulness, goodness, and self-control.

Practice. 1% better every day. I can tell you from personal experience—it works.

Chew more; swallow less.

I heard this phrase in relation to eating. The idea is to slow down. In slowing down, you’ll eat less. Eating less leads to losing weight.

What about using this as a metaphor more broadly?

Say with media. Perhaps if we swallow less, we will be less gullible and susceptible to believing lies and distorted truth.

How about with study? What if instead of gulping huge chunks of the Bible and perhaps just memorizing a few rules, we instead read a paragraph or a story and chewed on it for a long time? Maybe you wouldn’t read the Bible in a year. But you may become wiser with more depth of understanding. Maybe you wouldn’t swallow half-thought-out ideas that lead you astray.

The publicist sent an early copy of a book for me to review. Wisdom Factory: AI, Games, and the Education of a Modern Worker by Tim Dasey, Ph.D. He is an MIT professor (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) thinking about the future of work. I wrote an introduction to this book last week.

Considering the media hype about AI and Dasey’s background  working in AI, and that the book’s subtitle includes AI, you might think this is a book about AI. You would be wrong. This is yet another book about how we need to change the way we educate youth and adults for work in the modern world. Building on the derisive caricature of schools as industrial factories churning out kids who can follow instructions and learn details, he turns the word factory on its head and talks of “wisdom” factories.

This is a good book if you want a new view on some new techniques. However, seeing the need to teach wisdom is hardly new.

3,000 years ago a king in Palestine, the Kingdom of Israel, compiled wisdom sayings into a book along with his many insights into wisdom. Solomon was reputed to be the wisest man who ever lived. Yet, he was a terrible father. He burdened his people with taxes and work for his insatiable need to build more buildings. He took the sons into the army in order to expand his kingdom’s territory. He worshipped foreign gods.

The book of Proverbs is like a school, an education, in wisdom. It’s why I recommend reading a chapter a day every January (31 chapters/31 days) just as a reminder.

I think every course at every time in school should really be teaching thinking. In math, logical progression of ideas. In history, not only when, but why and what if. In grammar, how to express oneself clearly. In literature, what did the author mean, how are the characters related, what if the author explored a deeper emotion. Of course scientific thinking in science classes.

And yes, in the spiritual life. Not just memorizing Bible verses or writings of Aquinas or Augustine or Luther, but asking why is this there, what if they went a different way, how did this affect the people there at the time, how should this affect how I act and feel when I get up from the desk.

Read our Wisdom literature carefully. How much is about memorizing? How much is about how we act? Wisdom is at the intersection of spirit, experience, knowledge, reflection. And it should never stop growing in us.

I wrote about how little things matter Friday. Then I received my weekly newsletter from Vitaliy Katsenelson, CEO of an investment firm who also calls himself “student of life.” He wrote this:

Just remember, little things matter; on their own, you may not notice them, but they all add up. Walt Disney once said, “You can feel quality.” Quality is the result of doing all the little things well, and with heart and soul. 

I also receive a fitness newsletter five days a week. This morning they told of many responses they’ve seen over the several months since this newsletter began of people applying the 1% better approach. Just try for 1% better at something every day. Some people began the training with 15-lb. dumbells and are not at 30-lb. A little at a time. I encourage my granddaughter every time she posts just a little better time in her swim meets. At the end of this season, her times are remarkably better than at the beginning.

You think you cannot read something spiritual and meditate/pray every day for 30 minutes. But you start with five minutes you grab with early morning coffee. Soon, 30 minutes is nothing.

This reminds me of the folk song, The Garden Song.

Inch by inch, row by row

Gonna make this garden grow

Gonna mulch it deep and low

Gonna make it fertile ground

The Garden Song

Little things matter.

The small, almost incidental, decisions accumulate and lead to habits.

Teach yourself to be aware of little things you do, usually without thinking. Have you done them three days consecutively? Is it now a habit that will degrade your health–physical or spiritual?

Think of the little things.

Making your bed when you get up. That begins the day with discipline and you are rewarded with a freshly made bed at night.

Flossing after brushing your teeth.

Not absent-mindedly scrolling through social media.

Having a good book laid out ready to read when the moment happens.

A smile and greeting to everyone you meet.

The little things accumulate. When you reflect at the end of the day, you’ll be amazed at the good.