Audio CD
Publisher: Random House Audio; Abridged edition (April 15, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0739359061
ISBN-13: 978-0739359068
Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.5 x 5.8 inches
Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (424 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #1,528,883 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #90 in Books > Books on CD > Children's Fiction > Religion #134 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Children's & Teens > Teens > Inspirational #1155 in Books > Teens > Education & Reference > Social Science
I've often reflected on something I experienced when I was studying in college. With a busy semester ahead of me, I decided to take "Death and Dying," an elective that had the reputation of being an exceptionally easy course (a "bird course" we called it back then). On the first day we arrived in the lecture hall, the professor handed out a reading list and what he assured us were the lecture notes for the entire course. With these in hand, we were told, there was little use in showing up for the rest of the year unless we were really and truly interested in the subject matter. It was not a difficult course, he said, and we could probably do fine if we just turned in the assignments and showed up to write the exam. Needless to say, most of us took this as an opportunity to have an evening to ourselves each week rather than actually sitting through long and boring lectures on a subject that was of little interest. Also needless to say, most of us earned very poor grades. I've contrasted this in my mind to courses where the professor challenged us on the first day that his would be an exceedingly difficult course and one that would require the best we had. With such a challenge, many students rose to the challenge. Knowing that expectations were high and knowing that we faced a long and difficult fight, we reacted by putting out more effort and ultimately by doing better.High expectations, it seems, often results in greater performance. Tragically, we live at a time where we expect very little of teenagers. The teen years, we seem to think, are a time where we can and must expect little. If our teenagers manage to avoid dangerous drugs, manage to avoid pregnancy and manage to avoid completely derailing their lives, we consider these years a success.
I was ironing in the laundry room when I saw 19 year olds Alex and Brett Harris, authors of the new book "Do Hard Things" on The Harvest Show, on WHME-TV. I immediately thought of how well they carried themselves. Their enthusiasm and love of God seemed genuine and impressive. I set my iron down to carefully listen to them explain the premise of their book, and was hooked. After all, I have nine children, including four teenagers, and what they were saying to teens their age rang true--Go above and beyond. Do more than expected. Challenge yourself. Love God. Do hard things. I ordered a copy of their book the next day. Being a bona fide book lover (and God-lover too), I couldn't help but open the book and start reading it before the mailman had even left my driveway, even though at 40-something I am far older than the intended target audience. I was immediately surprised. In the opening pages the Harris brothers describe "an imaginary abbey of Dundelhoff" ... "on the outskirts of a small town in Germany" whose monastic inhabitants "eat colorless, tasteless sludge--once a day. (and) They only drink lukewarm water". The Harris brothers criticize the imaginary monks who "believe that the more miserable they are the holier they are and the happier God is." That seemed like a slam on real monks, and was also a misrepresentation of what the monks I've read about believe. Is it coincidence that these authors chose this example for an illustration of what kind of hard things not to do, or did they know that Martin Luther, who led the protestant break from the Church, was a defected German monk? Further, framed in this way, a monks' life was presented as a folly.
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