2018-08-08 Redlands Council
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Bible Reading
Bible Reading
1 These are the solemn words which King Lemuel’s mother said to him:
1 These are the solemn words which King Lemuel’s mother said to him:
2 “You are my own dear son, the answer to my prayers. What shall I tell you?
3 Don’t spend all your energy on sex and all your money on women; they have destroyed kings.
4 Listen, Lemuel. Kings should not drink wine or have a craving for alcohol.
5 When they drink, they forget the laws and ignore the rights of people in need.
6 Alcohol is for people who are dying, for those who are in misery.
7 Let them drink and forget their poverty and unhappiness.
8 “Speak up for people who cannot speak for themselves. Protect the rights of all who are helpless.
9 Speak for them and be a righteous judge. Protect the rights of the poor and needy.”
2 “You are my own dear son, the answer to my prayers. What shall I tell you?
3 Don’t spend all your energy on sex and all your money on women; they have destroyed kings.
4 Listen, Lemuel. Kings should not drink wine or have a craving for alcohol.
5 When they drink, they forget the laws and ignore the rights of people in need.
6 Alcohol is for people who are dying, for those who are in misery.
7 Let them drink and forget their poverty and unhappiness.
8 “Speak up for people who cannot speak for themselves. Protect the rights of all who are helpless.
9 Speak for them and be a righteous judge. Protect the rights of the poor and needy.”
Things that cause us to forget...
Things that cause us to forget...
1 These are the solemn words which King Lemuel’s mother said to him:
2 “You are my own dear son, the answer to my prayers. What shall I tell you?
3 Don’t spend all your energy on sex and all your money on women; they have destroyed kings.
4 Listen, Lemuel. Kings should not drink wine or have a craving for alcohol.
5 When they drink, they forget the laws and ignore the rights of people in need.
6 Alcohol is for people who are dying, for those who are in misery.
7 Let them drink and forget their poverty and unhappiness.
8 “Speak up for people who cannot speak for themselves. Protect the rights of all who are helpless.
9 Speak for them and be a righteous judge. Protect the rights of the poor and needy.”
Leadership within any organisation is a challenge and there are plenty of things which compete for our attention.
This Proverb is advice to a king about how to rule justly, what to avoid. Avoiding things like getting into trouble through poor choices around relationships and becoming an alcholic seem pretty straight forward, but the things which harm our ability to listen to those who are most vulnerable is gradual and can sneak up on you.
I have a 9 month old at the moment, so the idea of speaking and providing for those who can’t speak for themselves is pretty much front and centre in my life 24/7...
“All in the Mind” on the ABC recently did an episode on new insights leadership on based on neuroscience. I would really recommend checking it out.
One of the most striking things was the question about:
Lynne Malcolm: And does that power actually affect the way the brain works?
Rasmus Hougaard: Yes, so the power of leadership very directly impacts our brain. Some recent studies have found that, again, when we come into the position of power, the part of the brain that is associated empathy, that that part of the brain is gradually switched off.
A CEO of a very large well-known brewery told me in one of the interviews that when he stepped into the CEO role 15 years ago he had a very strong empathy, he was known for being a very empathetic man. And he said very openly that during these 15 years of being a CEO he was basically losing his empathy, he didn't have the same ability of really recognising how people felt, and that was both at work and at home.
A CEO of a very large well-known brewery told me in one of the interviews that when he stepped into the CEO role 15 years ago he had a very strong empathy, he was known for being a very empathetic man. And he said very openly that during these 15 years of being a CEO he was basically losing his empathy, he didn't have the same ability of really recognising how people felt, and that was both at work and at home.
May the challenge for today be that we can be selfless, that we can make an effort to hear, to really hear, the voice of those in our community who are suffering, marginalized and dis-empowered. May we look past their appearance, their vocabulary they might use in sharing their struggle and our political or ideological commitments which offer easy sound bite dismissals...
May we give voice to those who need it most and in listening, really listening, give them the dignaty of
5 When they drink, they forget the laws and ignore the rights of people in need.
8 “Speak up for people who cannot speak for themselves. Protect the rights of all who are helpless.
9 Speak for them and be a righteous judge. Protect the rights of the poor and needy.”