My Worldview

 

I have a Christian worldview and it shapes the way that I view issues. I don’t apologize for that, and I don’t think people of faith ought to shrink away from being in the public arena.

John Thune

 

“I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”

Philippians 4:13

Some Important Concepts.

Certain fundamental aspects of being alive become even more important during retirement. They have always existed and contributed toward a successful and rewarding life. They remain equally important, maybe even more so, during retirement.

During retirement we can casually and without notice begin to ignore or eliminate one or more of these from our lives. As these fundamental concepts are gone from living our retired lives can lack vision or energy.

Throughout my teaching life I have tried to discover the most fundamental aspects which make learning last for a lifetime. Interestingly, those concepts also result in living a good life and one which benefits and rewards both yourself and others around you.

Those fundamental concepts or principles I have tried to live by are as follows.

 

• The Mind Matters Most.
• Live with Spontaneous Intentionality.
• Be Brave About Speaking truth & True Truth.
• Be strong in your academic subject.
• Consciously Develop a Vision and Goals.
• Understand “Your Story” Matters.

 

The Mind Matters Most

I read the book “Psycho-Cybernetics early after publication in the 1960s. It’s a self-help book written by a famous facial-reconstructive surgeon.

The book stresses the importance of having a positive self-image and provides practical techniques for turning negative self-talk and limiting beliefs into a positive image of yourself. It also uses the concept of “mental rehearsals,” which helps in visualization and goal setting.

Jack Nicklaus was a rather famous golfer who used to “visualize” every golf shot before swinging. Often his visualization was a preview of reality.

While reading the book I couldn’t help thinking how many of the concepts Maltz covered were, at their most fundamental level, scriptural principles. Without realizing it was a biblical principle, he naturally “discovered” something which was taught a couple thousand years earlier.

The following verses are relevant to Maltz’s book.

 

Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing, and perfect will.

Rom. 12:2

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.

Phil. 4:8

 

While not an advocate of self-help philosophy, I do agree with the premise that The Mind Matters Most in the living of our daily lives.

The most important aspect of the use of our minds in our lives is represented by an experiment done early on.

Scientists looked at a large PE class in a school. The entire class was tested for their free-throw percentages in basketball. It was then divided into thirds. One third just lived normally for one month. Another third practiced free-throws for thirty minutes per day for the entire month. The final group was not to touch a basketball but were to sit quietly for thirty minutes each day.

While sitting quietly they were to imagine a mental picture of themselves shooting free-throws. Every aspect was to be done in the mind, bouncing the ball, holding it, looking at the rim… the total process.

The results amazed the scientists.

Group one’s percentage remained the same. Group two improved about thirty percent. Group three, the think-only group, improved almost as much as the practicing group.

Thus, the theory was developed that the brain was used not only for normal events but had the ability to train our activities for a future date!

I have used that knowledge in many ways; playing a golf course in my mind, planning the first sentence of a physics class, thinking about my future reactions to disturbing news from my boss, and most importantly, how to respond when telling others about Jesus in ANY circumstance of life.

Spontaneous Intentionality

Have you ever had an internal thought you should do something…then didn’t?

And then regretted forever not taking the chance.

Some spontaneous things are better left intentionally not done. Not punching your boss for a bad decision was a smart decision.

On the other hand, feeling you should pray and then acting on it has eternal consequences.

My mother experienced such an event. She awakened at 4:30 AM one morning with an urge to pray for a friend she hadn’t seen in several years. Vowing to remember to pray during her morning devotions, she went back to sleep.

Apparently, God wanted her prayers, and she woke again at 5:00 AM. This time she acted immediately, rose from bed, knelt in prayer for the friend, not having an idea why.

Around 9:00 AM the same morning Mom got a phone call from the man’s wife, telling my mother her husband had suffered a heart attack at 5:00 AM while driving to work. Unconscious at the wheel the car drifted into a large gravel parking area and came to a stop. Following immediately behind was an EMT who saw what happened, jumped from his car, and immediately began life-saving CPR.

The man lived and had a complete recovery.

Coincidence?

Or maybe God sometimes gives us the opportunity to react intentionally to spontaneous urges.

The same attitude is critical in our teaching careers. As we are aware of our students and classroom environments, our senses are filled with many actions.

We process those activities happening around us, and periodically a response we should make pops into our mind. We very quickly analyze that information, then determine whether to pursue the action we were contemplating.

Most of those spontaneous thoughts I experienced were discarded, but periodically one of the seemingly absurd actions took over and I intentionally acted on it.

Later in the book I will relay a story I acted on with spontaneous intentionality involving an angry teacher, a shoe, and a clarifying explanation of a chemistry concept.

Be Strong in Academics

This seems like it should be a given, but I’ve seen it be overlooked many times. It is extremely critical both in conveying the information properly and with understanding, but also in generating confidence the students have in us.

If our classes don’t go beyond the textbook, students can likely think they will be as educated in the subject equal to us if they know the text.

As a rookie about two months into my career I was rather textbook bound and expressed such to my students.

This became clear when a student asked, “If we know what’s in the text and that’s all you teach, why do we need you?”

I was reminded of a Latin class in college where the professor told us “If you don’t know more than we do (the professors) we haven’t done our jobs.”

During that first year of teaching, I made a quiet vow to keep learning about the subjects I taught, learning in general, and how to teach material beyond the textbook to students. From that I eventually came up with what I called the Eureka Concept. (You remember, Aristotle, etc.) I found as I studied a topic more deeply there came a time where “I got it!” Meaning suddenly had a deeper, more meaningful concept of the topic.

Interesting moments occurred as I had “Eureka moments.” One of those occurred during a class where I was explaining part of quantum mechanics to a class.

Suddenly, I got it! I stood back from the board, folded my arms, and was just basking in the moment for a minute.

One student asked what I was doing.

When I explained what happened and I was just savoring the moment, her response was, “If you’re just now getting it, how can we be expected to know it in time for tomorrow’s test?”

I am convinced that by sharing openly with my students about learning beyond the text and sharing my feelings about continuing to learn, their tendency towards learning was increased. Their understanding of me as a person who cared about them also grew.

True Truth

Francis Schaeffer coined the term “True Truth” to describe that which simply is, always has been, and always will be, and our opinions don’t matter. It is still True Truth.

For instance, gravity works whether we “believe it” or not.

Most importantly, the fact God exists, Jesus was His Son, Jesus died and rose again, and the Holy Spirit gives us power are examples of True Truth.

Scientific truth may be proven wrong. Cultural truths may change, but scriptural Truths as found in the bible remain eternally True.

It’s our command to speak the True Truth in the public square.

In the world of learning, when I taught the changing nature of how truth about the structure of an atom changed from Dalton to Schrodinger illustrating change of scientific truth, it also gave opportunity to explain True Truth.

Since that concept is so foreign in our culture, there was also a great opportunity for some deep discussion.

Develop a Vision

For three consecutive days I was extremely agitated before going to school and couldn’t figure out why. Perhaps it was a mid-life crisis, but I wasn’t about to quit my job or go out and buy a fancy new car.

On about the third day, the instant I was awake the answer came with vivid clarity.

I didn’t have any visions or long-term goals left to work on. Everything was completed.

Completed, but not replaced.

Previously my entire career had included having a relatively long-term project to focus on or even a multi-year concept that was being developed.

The last laboratory project was complete, the article project I was writing had just been published, and the Apple II chemistry series being done with my brother-in-law was now in the hands of the publisher.

And I didn’t replace any of them.

So back to the thinking-board to find a new project or something even longer to start working on. After two or three days I had settled on a new idea, and life was good!

Having a dream, or a vision, even short term goals or projects can provide the impetus to keep you going. Even providing exciting thinking time as you sip your coffee in the morning.

The bible addresses this concept quite directly. “Without a vision, the people Perish.” Proverbs 29:18.

Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream…” was never fulfilled in his lifetime. But it created an enthusiastic approach to living which motivated him and a multitude of others.

Now is the time to act on your dreams!

If they are gone, spend time and find new ones.

Your Story

Your story is important. Very important!

Everything you have experienced has the potential, even high  probability, to influence who you are today…and who you will become tomorrow.

In my classes I frequently told little snippets of my story in one or two minute segments of the class. Almost always they were relevant to the class and always relevant to being alive.

Sharing moments of living with being an introvert dealing with inferiority could influence a student with similar problems. Even some lighter moments about wonderfully unpredictable uncles and cousins could start class with a chuckle and be relevant to class.

For instance, starting the study of electricity with the phrase, “The last time I was struck by lightning…” would result in questions totally in alignment with the lesson. Interestingly, also eliciting serious lifestyle/worldview musings.

Your Story can be told throughout life. It can be used in several ways to enthuse or inspire your kids, people you work with, even your boss. The story of your life has many aspects which can be used in multiple ways to prove to be helpful to others.

It doesn’t matter what your visions or dreams are. In any interaction with others, they can always be told and can make it easier to share the True Truth of Jesus with them.

Pieces of a Puzzle

As you strive to live a normal life, finding a balance between home, job, individual passions and continuing to build your story, all these principles fit together in a beautiful mosaic of being alive.

Though treated separately above, all those “life principles” are merged into your personality and character.

When my wife and I are putting a puzzle together at home we place it on a table and add a piece or two as we are near. We invite visitors to add a piece if they desire. Accomplishing the task is a corporate event. Some of the people who helped never saw the completed picture.

But we knew they helped.

The analogy of those principles as puzzle pieces breaks down as you look at the bigger picture. Life is an active continuum of events, seeming to occur separately but still intertwined with other aspects of life. For instance, serious problems with a troubled child can affect relationships at work and work events can intervene in your weekly pickleball matches.

Life is dynamic, always changing.

The Final Piece!

A genuine sense of accomplishment happens when the final piece of a difficult puzzle appears. Slipping it into the last remaining spot gives a sense of victory… and from there we can look forward to the next challenge.

Here is a fact.

The final and most important piece of a well-lived life is your relationship with God and being totally focused on Him. When that happens, it is a natural event to tell other people about Jesus. Words of life slip naturally into the conversation, and you are not intimidated, you cannot NOT speak of Jesus and his redeeming act.

Does that sound harsh? Are you not a Christian if your silence about things spiritual is profound?

Not as I read scripture. You can be a Christian, but you will not experience the fullness of life governed by the Holy Spirit until you really trust God. Trust Him to believe what is written in His Word. Believe to the extent that you act on your belief.

All those principles listed previously can give us a good life. But until we are committed enough to risk speaking of God in ALL our lives, even in the public square, that last piece of the puzzle will be lacking.

Perhaps you have done that, and you know the Spirit is ready to burst forth in something special. If that’s the case, congratulations…let the adventure begin!

HOW to Achieve the WHY

We were playing golf with a threesome, so the starter teamed us up with a single. After the introductions we teed off, and another exciting round was underway.

On the third hole, the man we had just met, knew nothing about, was ready to hit his drive. As he is addressing the ball our friend Charlie walked right up to the man and asked, “Are you ready to meet your Maker? Do you know God? Will you spend eternity with Him?”

That was the most direct, and likely most inappropriate, method of spreading the Gospel that exists. Very direct, but likely not with the desired results.

The other extreme of witnessing happened in the late sixties. One friend was telling me of his many times of building relationships with people. He used the analogy of “building bridges” and becoming friends enough with people to tell them of Jesus.

We had been good friends for several years, so I felt free to ask the obvious question.

“Good for you in building those friendship bridges. Have you crossed those bridges?”

Quietly stalling, he barely muttered the word ‘no.”

You likely reside somewhere in the middle of those extremes. Perhaps you know in your heart you love God, but can you say it’s with all your mind, heart, and body?

You know a deeper relationship is necessary, but there might be an unconscious fear of what others will think if they see a total commitment to God coming from you.

You want to be there, but not just yet.

Believe me, I lived for quite a while in that “later” lifetime, quite fully at one time. I am a little closer now, but there is still a ways to go.

I really am not there, but it continues to grow. Every time I tell others of Jesus, I feel a bit more comfortable and thank God for the progress.

What were the two final steps that helped me get started on the process? We will cover those in the next section.

Important Steps to Courage

Step one was to pray for wisdom to recognize those opportunities.

As mentioned, my career was as a teacher, with half my career in Christian schools (no problem there!) and half in public schools. (OK, much harder…or so I thought)

Step one included the second step. The prayer was completed as follows.

My prayer included “Please, God, give me the wisdom to recognize opportunities to speak of Jesus and the courage to respond to the opportunity.”

Unexpected events sometimes occurred. For instance, in a public school I was by the whiteboard quietly praying when a student entered the room.

“Hey, Mr. H., are you praying?” was his question.

“Well, in fact I am.” I responded.

His response caught me off guard. “Are you praying for us or about us?”

His question opened an opportunity to tell him how Jesus loved him.

But the main thing requiring a step of courage occurred early in my career.

Teaching in a small town in central New York in which many of the churches shared events with one another enabled my wife and myself to meet several high school students who were Christian but in different churches.

Five of those kids were in various of my classes in the public school. One day they came as a group with an interesting, and honestly, a rather scary request.

During lunchtime they asked if they could come to my room and eat lunch with me. Not expecting anything unusual I quickly assented.

Before they even opened their lunches, the question was posed.

“We want to start a Bible Discussion Club. We want it to have full status in the activity period when other clubs occur. Since we want it on school property during the school day the administration requires a faculty sponsor. Would you be our sponsor?” was their question.

Arguments flew crazily through my mind in an instant. Mostly negative. But interestingly, deep down I didn’t want to disappoint the students. Then, almost like God’s message during the time in college I slept the entire weekend, the answer came.

“Quit worrying about what others think. Quit being selfish. Do it!” the answer was as clear as if God was in the room.

My spoken answer came clearly but with feigned confidence. But the kids were totally enthused as they relayed how they had prayed before coming my answer would be positive.

Several technical things had to occur; where would it be, who would be eligible, no denomination would be advertised. The biggest hurdle for me was gaining the courage to go ask the principal for permission.

The three boys and two girls said not to worry. They would come to his office with me and stay outside in the hall praying.

That afternoon immediately after school we met in the hall outside the principal’s office. They formed a circle, held hands, and started praying.

I entered his outer office where his receptionist flashed her normal friendly smile. Tapping the intercom, she informed him I was there.

Making a fifteen minute meeting a bit shorter, after my presentation of the students’ request, the first thing he did was go to the filing cabinet and removed a policy letter from the school’s lawyer. The essential nature of the letter was negative, pointing out that the safest thing to do was to not allow any religious type of activity on school grounds and during school time.

But then an amazing thing happened from a principal who normally dodged big decisions by putting hard questions “in committee.”

“Mr. Hitchcock, legally I should say no, but the kids could do a lot worse things. You have my permission.” His words literally shocked me.

Leaving his office to the hall outside, the kids could tell by my face the answer. They raised their hand high all saying, “Praise the Lord!”

In a couple of months, the Bible Discussion Club had an average attendance of forty-eight students. Interestingly, after their graduation from high school many of the students came to our house during their summer break from college for a continuation of their bible study and sharing how God was working in their lives.

That entire event convinced me being afraid was ok, thinking it might be a bust was not a reason to not try, trusting God to use my weakness to show His strength, and my only requirement was to have just enough courage to take the first small step.

God would do the rest.

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