This video session and chapter 5 of Becoming a King begin with a story relayed by Benjamin Franklin of a Native American chief’s response to American colonists who “generously” offered to educate several of their boys. What is your reaction to that story? What does it reveal about how the founders of our nation thought about “education”? In contrast, what did the Native Americans think was necessary to educate a young man? How does this story relate to your own?
Call to mind an experience when you were in the presence of a man who demonstrated a fierce mastery over a situation or an ability to walk in deep maturity in a particular relational context. Perhaps it was watching a mechanic work on a car, a teacher presenting a compelling idea, a heroic figure in a film, or a craftsman who created with his own hands. Think about what you admired about the man in this situation. Why did you admire it? What emotions does it bring up as you think of yourself in that same situation? If what he embodied was something you were actually meant to embody one day, how would you move toward engaging in the process required to demonstrate the capacity you see in that man?
Name one “next step” you could take to risk recovering your strength as a generalist.