CoffeePods
A series exploring Christian healing in a handy coffee-break sized podcast. Plug yourself in, pick up your mug of coffee, and let's go.
CoffeePods
Raising Your Sails: The Courage to Live Uncommonly
It's time for another episode of Coffee Pods with Acorn Christian Healing Foundation and your host, lisa.
Speaker 2:Way, and the Reverend Chris Kramer, grab a brew and make yourself comfortable as we explore what's happening in the world from the perspective of Christian healing. Chris, you have had a word on your mind, haven't you, that you want to talk about.
Speaker 1:Because when I first moved to the UK years ago. It was always this funny thing Someone says you don't want to be seen as too common, and I used to get so confused about that because I grew up in the mountains of north carolina and so this idea of being common, uh, didn't make a whole lot of sense to me and I thought, you know, I think I want to do a podcast where I get you to explain to me your understanding of common, and and then I wanted to tell you about a book that was written, uh, a few years ago, uh, by a buddy of mine and, uh, it has common in the title and I thought that that that might be a nice little springboard into thinking about the idea of being uncommon, which is the title of the book yeah, so what do you think?
Speaker 1:about common the word common in england common.
Speaker 2:When I hear someone say like oh, you're so common. Um, it almost sounds like just. I think the new word for it would be basic. Um, it's just kind of like you haven't really got a lot of ambition. You go with the flow a little bit, you don't really got a lot of ambition.
Speaker 2:You go with the flow a little bit. You don't really challenge. Maybe basic isn't the right word actually when I think about it, but it would also be used, I think, in quite a maybe discriminative way of somebody's very common and it would be like the common folk and it would usually be implied, you know, that they they've maybe got living in poverty, um, not really looking after themselves as well, maybe not got a higher paid job. Uh, it had that. It felt like a bit of an insult.
Speaker 1:I remember when the kid my kids were in school that was one of the common digs that you would hear other children yelling across the playground and they would say, oh, you're such a chav. You know council housed and violent for people who aren't. In Britain it is a common phrase to call someone you're such a chav.
Speaker 1:And so common is more class, I guess, and I like the idea of ambition. I haven't really thought about that being less ambitious, that you're just happy with your place in life, but there is a, there is a class thing about not wanting to appear common um because I think so I think so, and I I don't know how evident it is now.
Speaker 2:I don't know how evident it is now. I don't know whether the wording has changed to something different now. But also, I think if you were called common, it didn't mean you had no ambition. It was a maybe a stereotype or just a portrayal, but it wasn't necessarily in england.
Speaker 1:It's really interesting because so many people outside of england they think there's only one accent, which is the english accent. But of course, if you live over here you can go from one side of london to the other and you know if I'm in belgravia talking to someone, if I'm in the east end, it sounds totally different, and if I go in the East End it sounds totally different. And if I go down to the West Country it sounds totally different. Or someone from Newcastle. It's just a very different regional way. And yet there are people that will hear accents and will assume that someone is common based upon an accent.
Speaker 1:Yeah, or he's boy he was really posh and oh no, she was really common, and so these are things which are kind of interesting because I don't think maybe that is something that's very distinctive in the UK, that we have these distinctions that are largely drawn from what we hear when people speak or the vocabulary they use. We assume education, which is why I love watching television. Sometimes you'll have a comedian on the BBC who speaks in a real slangy, twangy kind of way and you know that they've got multiple degrees and they're super smart kind of way, and you know that they've got multiple degrees and they're super smart and and yet they live into who they are.
Speaker 1:They they're quite happy being a kid from liverpool who went on to be a comedian or what you know. Whatever their background is they, they embrace their heritage in a very real way, and I guess that's the bit that makes me think of Tony's book, because he titled the book Uncommon. And so Tony Dungy was a legendary American football coach, wouldn't be widely known in the UK, but he won Super Bowls. He's an amazing coach coach of the Indianapolis Colts and he co-wrote several books with a guy named Nathan Whitaker. Now Nathan played baseball and football at Duke University when I was a student there, and so Nathan was a buddy of mine, a Chick-fil-A ice cream buddy, but he co-wrote these books with Tony and they're exceptional books. They're good reads.
Speaker 1:So if you look up the book Uncommon by Tony Dungy and Nathan Whitaker, it's a good read. I think it was a bestseller, actually New York Times bestseller, and so it's very popular. There's a quote from it that I wanted to mention today. Tony said don't be afraid to stand out by doing things differently. The uncommon life is one of purpose, not popularity. I think in the world of sport. A lot of times, the people who rise to greatness are the ones that don't just live in ordinary decisions, but they're the ones who go the extra mile. I know when I was in college playing football, we had a wide receiver who was always at practice before everyone else. When practice ended, he was always running extra and doing extra things and dale he's in the hall of fame now, um, but dale always was uncommon.
Speaker 1:There was nothing about him that was ordinary, common, simple. He was always going the extra mile. He was living this uncommon life and I thought for years and years. I thought there's magic in a lifestyle that does that, that kind of says, yeah, I can do what everybody else does. I can just be common, I can be ordinary, or I can actually say you know what? This is kind of cool, I could do a little bit more, I could make a bigger difference. There's just all sorts of aspects of life where this could play in. When you think about your children or your family vacation or the things that you're doing, the uncommon thing is to to do that little bit extra. That makes a little bit difference and I think the idea.
Speaker 1:Idea is, some people think that you should follow the crowd and just be like everybody else. And you look at the what's the latest TikTok trend? And I'm going to you know, cause I asked my daughter sometimes so what's the newest trend today? Oh, you record dance moves to this music and upload it. And I said, well, why don't you be the trendsetter? Why don't you actually do something that's uncommon? And then everybody else will see your video and they'll go wow, that's actually cool, we've never seen that before. Why don't you be the one that's uncommon? And and um, wouldn't that be nice to be known for the person who's setting the example by doing the extraordinary instead of the ordinary yeah, I think some people find it hard to think differently, you know.
Speaker 2:So, if I was to say um to myself, like lisa, what would your life look like if it wasn't common and you went against the ordinary? I would take time to think about it and, and I think, a lot of time to think about it. But I think some people genuinely find it really hard to think beyond what their life is, and how they act and what they are as people.
Speaker 2:And we have this gift that you and I are aware of of you know, being made in the image of God, but also having that individuality as well. Um, and that's why, like I love any time we get an opportunity to talk about identity, uh, to people, because I I just think we have received such a gift from God in sharing his identity. But what are your thoughts kind of around that being made in the image of the God, having uniqueness?
Speaker 1:It breaks my heart that people are so afraid to live into their dreams. There are a lot of people that I really think that there's a lot of fear. And when you said you know what would my life look like if? And I think, what is it within a person that keeps them off the roller coaster of life? You know the what is it that keeps you in the queue rather than getting in the front seat of the front car and riding the ride and experiencing the thrill? And? And there are a whole lot of people in life who don't want to ride the ride. They don't want to step out in faith and believe that the coaster is not going to leave the track, believe that the coaster is not going to leave the track. They would much rather live a common, ordinary, peaceful, predictable life than to run the risk of being fearful, scared, out of control.
Speaker 1:And I think, really, the uncommon life is recklessly following God and that may take you to places that you didn't even know existed. I remember I didn't know anything about West Africa in the late 80s and the next thing you know, 10 years later, I'm in Ghana. And you think, how does this happen? Well, it's putting your sail up and letting the wind blow, and where the wind blows, the sails fill and that's the direction you go. It's having this uncommon faith to raise your sails and to go where God directs you and wills you. You know, it's a frightening thing thing and I don't think it's completely random, you know, I, I, but I do think that there's a whole lot of trust involved and, um, and and there's fear.
Speaker 1:You know, I think I I bumped into a fact, a strange fact, this week. Um, I was reading a bit about this early space program in amer which fascinates me. Since I was a little boy, I went to the Air and Space Museum in Washington DC and saw the space capsules and the moon rock and all this with my grandfather, and I was always intrigued about early astronauts and how they must have surely thought they could die and what would it be like to be an astronaut and take off into space. And I read this crazy thing about the Apollo 11 astronauts trying to get life insurance before they flew into space. And they were not able to get any life insurance. And so they got together and decided that the way to get some life insurance was that each of them signed envelopes for their families which they would actually give to their families. And if they died, like during reentry, if they burned up and died, these autographs on these cards would become the rarest space collectibles on Earth, which means they would be worth an absolute fortune.
Speaker 1:And I think the thing I read said that they are actually worth a fortune right now, even though they didn't die, but they created their own insurance by creating something that they knew would have incredible value if they died, and so they.
Speaker 1:So they kind of stepped out of the common way of of doing things, to come up with a a different way of getting the same results, and it also meant that they they realized the value that their lives had. Their life and their story had a value that didn't need an insurance company. They had an intrinsic value in their own lives and that their signature on an envelope was worth something because their lives were worth something, and so I found that quite inspiring really to think about especially in a world where we pick up our phones and it tells us what clothes are popular and what trends.
Speaker 1:What are you wearing? What car are you going to buy this year? What kind of watch do you have? There's all these constant bombarding of things, constant bombarding of things about and and this is this is where social media and television are trying to tell us what matters. But they're telling us what is common, what is ordinary, what, what are the trends and and I I honestly think I don't want to be common, I want to be uncommon. I, I want to live beyond the arc of the ordinary.
Speaker 2:I want to do something kind of crazy where whatever I'm doing has value in and of itself following what we're being told is common is that we can start to compare, and I mean, it's so easy to compare our lives, our value to other people, based on what others are telling us, what the world is telling us and how do you define success?
Speaker 1:I mean, do you ever? Your generation is a bit behind mine, but it's constant when you're going through school and says you want to be successful and your Uncle, frank, he's successful and she's really successful, and you say, well, what does that mean? What does success mean to a person? Because it's defined in so many different ways. I know people that are dirt poor. A fellow who just died this week, who meant a lot to me, um, amazing guy, dirt poor, didn't, didn't have two nickels to rub together, but he made beautiful music. He was a simple, ordinary man and he could build things with his hands. He built his own house, but but was, by the world's definition of success, he probably looks like a failure. And yet there's a part of me that thinks here he is, he just died, and I think, gosh, I think he actually was somewhat successful in a lot of ways. It's just that we don't typically value the things that he valued, that he decided were important to him. That's right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely, definitely. There is another really good quote that says don't compare your life with others. There is no comparison between the sun and the moon. I mean that in itself is really inspiring. They shine when it's their time. So are you saying you're the sun and I'm? I mean that in itself is really inspiring.
Speaker 1:They shine when it's their time. So are you saying you are the sun and I'm the moon with my bald head? Is that?
Speaker 2:And we shine when it's our time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's such a good quote. That's actually really good because it's so true. But why would we criticize one and embrace the other? Why can't we celebrate both? And I think that's the.
Speaker 1:That's the real thing, is that when we start getting into this Trivial thing of valuing people over and against each other, then we lose the fact that each person is unique and wonderful and can shine, and and you know it's we tend to judge and in judging we limit, and I think we should celebrate uniqueness and tell you know to shine. The Bible tells us to. Therefore, since we live in such a depraved generation, we should shine like the stars of the universe. So each of us is called to shine and whatever it is we're doing, you know, I remember Muhammad Ali ali. He gave this great, uh, the great cassius clay boxer.
Speaker 1:Muhammad ali, he uh, um, he was quoted one time. He said if, uh, I told my mama if I was going to be a boxer, no, if I was going to be a garbage man, I was going to be the best garbage man in the world. Um, and so the idea that he had in his own heart which I'm sure Tony Dungy in his book, there's a real element of this that whatever you do, be it a garbage man or a boxer, or a quarterback in the NFL, or a prime minister of a nation, or a grocery store clerk, or a guy, that that is, uh, sweeping the streets. Be the best version of yourself you can possibly be, and and don't let anybody make common a derogatory thing to put on you that you say. You say I'm living an uncommon life because my life is connected to the one who, who came before and the one who will be here after, and, uh, that to me is, it is what this is all about, this.
Speaker 1:I think this is a good a to remind people of our linked nature, but also to remind people of how special and unique each person that is involved in ACORN is. We're all children of the living God, of the living God, and uh, and that is, uh, uh, an amazing thing to be connected to, uh, to God's love in such a beautiful and powerful way. Um, yeah, but it's so, it's so crazy to think, you know, I cause, I know we're about finished with this episode and I thought to myself the you know, we think about people and the commonalities between people and commonness and uncommon things, and and I was looking at some facts and I thought um, abraham lincoln, did you know that abraham lincoln and charles darwin were actually born on the exact same day, in the year 1809.
Speaker 1:Exact, same day, and so you've got the guy who is dealing with the Civil War in America, who becomes, you know, he's president and is now has a monument. And you have another fella who writes the origins of species and turns much of the scientific world on its head and and creates problems for theologians for years and years. But you don't often think about them in the same breath.
Speaker 1:You think, oh they're so different, so distinctively different in the dreams they followed, the lives they led, and and yet both of them. Now, if you say, if we link them together and say, what do they have in common? They were born on the same day, on the same year, not just the same day, 1809.
Speaker 1:They were both born and I I think that to me is how you can take the idea of common and you can transform it into something amazing. And you say I will never think of Abraham Lincoln again without thinking of Charles Darwin. And I will never think of Charles Darwin when I'm at Westminster Abbey and I see his name on the floor. You know, I'll never think of Charles Darwin without going oh, abe Lincoln, he shares his birthday.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's really cool. Actually, think of charles darwin without going. Ah, abe lincoln, he shares his birthday. Um, yeah, that's really cool. Actually, have you got any other stuff like that? I?
Speaker 1:collect these random things like um, when the? When the pyramids were built in egypt, the, the actual last woolly mammoth roaming the earth, would have still been on the earth when the pyramids were being built. That you? That's not as exciting as um what william, shakespeare, um and the real pocahontas were actually alive at the same time and they died within one year of each other.
Speaker 2:Pocahontas and shakespeare, and and and they actually only died 100 miles from each other too, when they died.
Speaker 1:So Shakespeare and Pocahontas. So you'll never watch that Disney movie the same way again, but the world is so full of crazy, random things which can make commonality uncommon, and I guess that's where this whole podcast was going. Was that just trying to say never assume that, uh, that things are common, because there's always something uncommon in the commonality.
Speaker 2:Um yeah, yeah, find something great.
Speaker 1:So maybe we'll send people who listen today out into the world in search of uncommon. In fact, if they find crazy facts, I would hope people might email us and send us some things that you find that were sort of random facts that um, and we'll share them on a future episode.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I love that. Oh, what a good task to go and do so. Next time we're going to be looking at the reality of time and changing perspective, so we'll put a pause on it for here and we'll catch you on the next episode.
Speaker 1:Have a great day. Bye, thank you. Thanks for listening to Coffee Pots today.
Speaker 2:Don't forget to like, follow and subscribe. This podcast is made possible thanks, in part, for the generosity of people like you.
