Reformed Churchmen

We are Confessional Calvinists and a Prayer Book Church-people. In 2012, we remembered the 350th anniversary of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer; also, we remembered the 450th anniversary of John Jewel's sober, scholarly, and Reformed "An Apology of the Church of England." In 2013, we remembered the publication of the "Heidelberg Catechism" and the influence of Reformed theologians in England, including Heinrich Bullinger's Decades. For 2014: Tyndale's NT translation. For 2015, John Roger, Rowland Taylor and Bishop John Hooper's martyrdom, burned at the stakes. Books of the month. December 2014: Alan Jacob's "Book of Common Prayer" at: http://www.amazon.com/Book-Common-Prayer-Biography-Religious/dp/0691154813/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417814005&sr=8-1&keywords=jacobs+book+of+common+prayer. January 2015: A.F. Pollard's "Thomas Cranmer and the English Reformation: 1489-1556" at: http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Cranmer-English-Reformation-1489-1556/dp/1592448658/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420055574&sr=8-1&keywords=A.F.+Pollard+Cranmer. February 2015: Jaspar Ridley's "Thomas Cranmer" at: http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Cranmer-Jasper-Ridley/dp/0198212879/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422892154&sr=8-1&keywords=jasper+ridley+cranmer&pebp=1422892151110&peasin=198212879

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Surviving the Drip

Surviving the Drip

“You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end — which you can never afford to lose — with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.”
—Vice Admiral James Stockdale (1923-2005)
James Stockdale was a naval aviator shot down in Vietnam and held captive at the “Hanoi Hilton” for seven years. Repeatedly beaten and tortured, at the same time he was a leader to other prisoners in helping them cope with their captivity, treatment and uncertainty.

The above quote, which is known as “The Stockdale Paradox,” was originally referenced in James C. Collins’ book Good to Great. It is a lesson that has been shared with me by more than a few role models in my time. When Collins asked Stockdale about those who were least likely to make it, his answer was (ironically) “Oh, that’s easy, the optimists. Oh, they were the ones who said, ‘We’re going to be out by Christmas.’ And Christmas would come, and Christmas would go. Then they’d say, ‘We’re going to be out by Easter.’ And Easter would come, and Easter would go. And then Thanksgiving, and then it would be Christmas again. And they died of a broken heart.”

So many of us these days who are rebulding are also struggling with mere survival. The loss of jobs, the reduction of business revenue and holding on through seemingly endless sales cycles can be enough for any one of us to give up. Indeed, as a close friend and financial advisor once told me, the biggest challenge to beginning any business or career endeavor is most often “Surviving the drip.” It’s having just what you need to get by for TODAY, so you can make it to the next.

Stockdale’s profound obvervation, in my opinion, is far less a paradox and much more about balance. I know one person in my life who always said she was not an optimist, but a realist. Being an optimist is simply setting yourself up for failure and disappointment. Unfortunately for her, being a realist was to surrender to defeat, self pity and pessimism…to give up. She had no faith.

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