Heritage

As I was doing the original writing of Life Transitions, I came across the word 'heritage' and it has been stuck in my head for over 5 years now.  Perhaps it is appropriate that I put some thoughts down on this Veterans' Day and the first anniversary of my mother's death.

Likely what captured by attention about this word, 'heritage', was its use in Isaiah 54:17 as a closing statement, "This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the Lord." (NKJV - emphasis added).  Maybe I tend to overthink things but it seems significant to me that God would inspire the original writer of this text to use the word 'heritage'.  So, what is 'heritage'?

We traditionally think of heritage as having to do with where we came from or having to do with our past.  More generally, we think of heritage as cultural aspects or traditions that have been passed down through generations.  Constructing a family tree might give a sense of personal heritage or it might be used in a legal sense to establish property rights.

Here are some definitions of heritage

• that which is inherited; a title or property or estate that passes by law to the heir on the death of the owner
• any attribute or immaterial possession that is inherited from ancestors
• practices that are handed down from the past by tradition
• hereditary succession to a title or an office or property

What definition might the writer of Isaiah 54 been thinking about?  I have come to believe that the writer had all the definitions and more in mind.

I came across a quote from Dr. Rodney Harrison that states, "Heritage has very little to do with the past, but is actually more about how we contextualize the future."  So, is understanding our heritage not so much about the past as it is about casting a vision for our future?  Even more important,  does the lense that we view the past through determine our vision of our future?

As it is Veterans' Day we could ask, does the vision of America's future look different through the lense of a veteran?  What is it about the history of America that causes a person to be willing to put their life in harms' way?  Perhaps it is a long family history of service to the country or an inner desire to see traditions preserved or even a desire to see the foundational rights of the citizens preserved or a desire to see our children and grandchildren have access to a promise of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  I'm sure it is different for everyone but it is what creates a veteran. Does that give a veteran a different vision, a different hope, for the future of America?  As a veteran, I believe it does but everyone will have to answer that for themselves.

On this Veteran's Day, I want to say to all the veterans, I consider it a privilege to have served with you, a privilege to have preserved a long heritage of service, and a privilege to call you all brothers.

Back to the question of Isaiah 54, I believe he was challenging us to create a vision of our future based on the history of the "servants of the Lord" and another promise.  Interesting that Genesis 2:4 would place creating heaven and earth in the context of history, "This is the history of the heavens and the earth...".  Then Jeremiah 29:11 promises, "For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope."

Can we honor the memory of those who gave all, who created our history, by spending some time joining their sacrifice to a promise - to cast a vision of a future and a hope?

The Power of Connection

This past week, I had the privilege of being asked to deliver the opening workshop on leadership for the 2015 AIM Conference.  The theme of the conference was – The Power of Connection.

To set a foundation for the Leadership Workshop, we needed to understand what a leader is and is not.  The term, Leader, has become more of a buzz word with everyone wanting to be a leader today but few knowing what it really means.  Some even use it as an excuse to not manage when necessary.

An additional foundational element we explored was, “You cannot lead others if you cannot lead yourself.”  The reminder of the Workshop focused on leading yourself – What are the different roles of a leader and how do those look in self-leadership?

As we go through transitions and changes in our lives, leaders will create the transition rather than react to it.  Life Transitions from Glory to Glory is ultimately about creating transition and leading yourself through it rather than reacting to everything that happens.  Transitions put you on a path – one role of a leader is about finding that path.
Ultimately to align or connect correctly, we have to understand something our Saturday evening speaker (Bishop Taro Golden) said, “To be in authority, you have to be under authority.”  I might rephrase slightly but don’t want you to lose the significants of the statement, “To be a great leader, you must be a great follower.”

In the context of The Power of Connection Conference, another leader role we discussed was aligning (connecting).  There has been much written and spoken about the importance of right alignments and connections in this season.  Questions such as, “How am I aligned to achieve vision and strategy (purpose)?” and “How do my alignments work together?” are critical today.

On Thursday evening, our speaker (Gaynelle Standfield) delivered a great message on connections that drove the point of “leading yourself through alignment” by emphasizing right alignments and those that are not right.  There is a need for some extended teaching on alignments and connections because in this social media age, these terms have become just buzz words as well.

I left the workshop with this thought from 2 Thessalonians 1:11 (The Message Bible), “Because we know that this extraordinary day is just ahead, we pray for you all the time– pray that our God will make you fit for what he’s called you to be, pray that he’ll fill your good ideas and acts of faith with his own energy so that it all amounts to something.”

While the Leadership Workshop had to be very abbreviated, we will be looking at how and when to provide a full workshop along with exercises for self-leadership.