In his book "The Age of Speed", Vince Poscente tells a story of how in 1991 he raced across a tightrope---and not in the metaphorical sense. He was an Olympic speed skier. France had the best team in the world so he went to France to train with them. In one of the exercises, the coach challenged each of the athletes to walk from one end of a tightrope to the other as fast as they could without falling.
One after another, each started across the tightrope, believing they could win. And one after another, each failed. No one won the race because no one could stay on the rope. They'd hold their arms out to their sides, keep their eyes on the rope, and carefully place one foot in front of the other. They would concentrate their energy on going fast and not falling---but then they would fall, again and again.
After they were thoroughly bruised and humiliated the coach told them a secret: to go fast stop focusing on the rope, and start focusing on the destination. Find a clear point of focus on the opposite end of the rope and keep your eyes on that point.
One after another, they climbed to the starting point of the tightrope course, took a deep breath, paused for a moment, looked up to find a focus point at the end of the course. Each started racing across the rope, never taking their eyes off the target. Each got across the tightrope without falling---and with great speed. He said it was like magic. The balance they thought they couldn't grasp was effortless, the footwork that seemed clumsy and impossible was natural, their frustrations were gone and they could concentrate on speed. Once the target was clear and they stayed focus on it, the path and the process were simple---they were balanced and fast.
It occurred to me GSMCOC has no goal, no target, no focus. Our classes and our sermons are meandering time fillers with no real destination in view. A major goal of the assembly is to not be too long. GSMCOC needs to find a focus point at the end of the rope and never lose sight of it. That focus would be our authentic purpose. When we have our focus on our purpose, we can get from the beginning to end of any course with ease, balance, and speed.
Talking to Marc last week he mentioned the elders will be meeting once a month at the building on Sundays and other times if required and that they had not decided how they will organize. With 25% of the leadership in a different country, 25% in a different county, 25% in a different city and a preacher in a different county doesn't inspire confidence that Pigeon Forge will be affected. It took 11 months to appoint elders I guess we couldn't handle too much change. We need an Activities Director.
John Jenkins
865-803-8179 cell
Gatlinburg, TN
Email: jrjenki@gmail.com
Blogs: http://littlepigeon.blogspot.com/
http://alumcave.blogspot.com/
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