Win/Win

May 7, 2015

Win/Win

Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted.

John 6:11

Stephen Covey teaches that the core value in interpersonal relationships is to have a win/win attitude. (Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People) A win/win attitude is to have an abundancy mentality as opposed to a scarcity mentality. An example of both attitudes is found in the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand. (John 6:1-13) Jesus’ disciples Philip and Andrew were focused on what they did not have. Jesus focused on what he did have, gave thanks to God and distributed the five loaves and two fish to the multitude. All the people ate as much as they wanted and there were twelve baskets of leftovers.

What difference can this episode in Jesus’ life make in our lives today? In connecting these dots, I remember a story Anthony DeMello tells of a sojourner who, upon reaching the outskirts of a village, settled down under a tree for the night. Suddenly a villager came running up to him and said, “The stone! The stone! Give me the precious stone!”

“What stone?” asked the sojourner. “Last night the Lord appeared to me in a dream,” said the villager, “and told me that if I went to the outskirts of the village at dusk I should find a sojourner who would give me a precious stone that would make me rich forever.” The sojourner rummaged in his bag and pulled out a stone. “He probably meant this one,” he said, as he handed the stone over to the villager. “I found it on a forest path some days ago. You can certainly have it.”

The villager gazed at the stone in wonder. It was a diamond; probably the largest diamond in the whole world, for it was as large as a person’s head. He took the diamond and walked away. All night he tossed about in bed, unable to sleep. The next day at the crack of dawn he returned to the sojourner and said, “Please kind sir, give me the wealth that makes it so easy for you to give this diamond away.” (Anthony De Mello, The Song of the Bird)

Jesus looked at what he had, and with an attitude of win/win determined to share his wealth (five loaves and two fish), as opposed to hoarding his wealth for himself and his disciples. My wealth goes well beyond my bank account. I have my home, knowledge, experience, wisdom, friends and family and 1,440 minutes in each and every day. The only question is whether I believe I have enough to share.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms is available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ is available as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.