The Reach

Don C. Davis

Description

This collection of narrative anecdotes proposes a way to reach forward and build a better future for yourself and the world by adopting the Big Ten Humanitarian Qualities.

From his farmhouse porch Granddad tells stories to his multi-age grandchildren to help them define a better humanity.

Dreamers like Elon Musk had already inspired Granddad’s grandchildren to believe in a great technological future. While Granddad welcomed and celebrated the tremendous potential of our science and technology, he wanted his grandchildren to see the potential of living by a picture of themselves reaching for a better humanity, empowered by a partnership of science, technology and a knowledge-based faith informed by the Big Ten Humanitarian Qualities.

Such a story-based paradigm is so overarching it adds an important complement to all religions, politics, and cultures, and so inclusive for our global age it can be taught in all the learning centers of the world, so any boy and girl can proudly say, “I have been taught the Big Ten Humanitarian Qualities as the, ABC’s of successful living wherever I live in the world family!”

The Reach is a symphony of stories in the arena of success and personal development, neuro science, positive psychology, and inspiration from the dynamic uplift of feedback from qualities-based living. Because of the plasticity of the brain to reset itself so it guides our story by a picture of ourselves reaching for our best self and a better humanity, we can dream big and live on the reach side of immense possibilities!

Sujets

• Développement personnel
• Développement personnel
• développement personnel
• Développement personnel
• Success
• Self-help
• Personal Growth

Informations

• Publié par: Archway Publishing
• Date de parution: 28 septembre 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781480889385
• Langue: English

Extrait

THE REACH
Our Best S elf A Better Huma nity
Stories
Possibilities!
Up-Reach!
Aspiration!
The Information Age
 
 

 
Copyright © 2020 Don C. Davis.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews and with the exception that the Ten Principles of Problem Solving and the Wedding Ceremony may be used without permission.
 
Archway Publishing
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.archwaypublishing.com
844-669-3957
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
Cover design by Nolan R. Davis
 
ISBN: 978-1-4808-8939-2 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-4808-8937-8 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-4808-8938-5 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2020910141
 
Archway Publishing rev. date: 07/29/2022

THE R EACH
Our Best Self
A Better Huma nity
 
Granddad’s Farmh ouse
Porch Sto ries
 
Storytelling at its Best
 
Don C. Da vis Th.B., B.A., M .Div.
Table of Contents
PART ONE
Episode 1THE CHOICE
Episode 2I SEE RAINBOWS
Episode 3PICKING UP THE BROKEN PIECES
Episode 4BACK UP THE MOUNTAIN
Episode 5SHOULD JOSEPH FORGET HIS DREAMS?
Episode 6SOLOMON’S MANTLE OF DREAMS
Episode 7THE SEARCH FOR WISDOM
Episode 8THE MAN FROM NAZARETH
Episode 9THE BANQUET
Episode 10FROM DAMASCUS ROAD TO WORLD CITIZEN
PART TWO
Episode 11EAGLES VIEW MOUNTAIN
Episode 12WORLD CITIZEN CHURCH
Episode 13UNCERTAINTY ON THE HORIZON
Episode 14IN THE BISHOP’S OFFICE
Episode 15THE MASTER TEACHER AMONG US
Episode 16THE TEN QUALITIES YARDSTICK
Episode 17A PLACE FOR DREAMS
Episode 18MEMORIAL TRIBUTE TO DR. JAMES KELLY
Episode 19BEN AND HIS GRANDDAD
Episode 20AN APPLE ORCHARD, OUTSIDE EDEN
Episode 21GREAT MULTIPLIERS
 
Dear Gran ddad,
It was a special moment for me when I heard you speak at the Young Writer’s Conference here at the university today. When you came to the platform as the keynote speaker, I leaned over and proudly whispered to my classmate, “That’s my gran ddad.”
It’s not every day that a college student can attend a Young Writer’s Conference where his granddad is the featured speaker. But, as a leading -e dge thinker, metaphorical writer, and storyteller who bridges yesterday into tomorrow, you were the perfect ch oice.
As I sat there listening to you, I had a grand idea. You said that you were working on a new book of metaphorical stories. I thought, what if Granddad would be willing to tell the stories he is writing in his new book to his grandchildren while he is writing them.
We all loved to listen to the stories you told us on the porch at the farmhouse, when we were all children. All of us are young adults now, or getting near, but I kept adding to my idea. Even though you live in town and come out to the farmhouse only as a retreat, and to write, we could all come together on the porch at the farmhouse in a kind of story seminar, and you could tell us the stories you are writing for your book. Would you consider that?
You have been not only an esteemed minister, practical philosopher, professor, and author, but a much -l oved granddad. You have followed your grandchildren’s high school, college days, and young careers with special interest. Because of your interest in all of us, I am daring to make this special req uest.
So, I have come to the dorm, following your presentation, to write this email. What I hope is that you will say, “Yes.”
E -m ail me back at your conveni ence.
Your gran dson,
S teve
 
Dear S teve,
I received your e -m ail and am so very pleased that you have come up with what I think is a wonderful idea.
The answer is an enthusiastic, “Yes.” I would be honored. It would be a privilege for me far above speaking at the writer’s conference where you began your idea. As I finalize these stories, having my grandchildren as a focus audience would add an important dimension. Of course you know me, the stories would be quite metaphorical. It is a symphony of stories with a recurring theme that reads like adventure. Beyond that, I would want to add in some positive philosophy out of my own journey stories. So, yes indeed, I would be willing to tell my stories to all of you!
Summer is near and the kudzu along the edge of the porch, with its delightful fragrance, will be in full bloom. I welcome the opportunity to share. And, I might add, your grandmother will be thrilled to have all of you at the farmhouse at the same time.
So, Steve, go ahead with your plan. Work out a time with all of your cousins and let me know any way I can help.
Be sure to include my two newest “grandchildren,” since Brian is married to Linda, and Marsha is married to Wilson. Be sure to include Linda and Wi lson.
Gran ddad
The Reach
PART ONE

“The once -u nimaginable becomes the now actually poss ible.”
— Peter Diama ndis
In Part One, we join Granddad Kelly on his farmhouse porch as he shares time -h onored stories with his grandchildren, inspiring their Reach from earliest yesterdays, to today, and to dream -r eaching tomor rows.
Episode On e THE CHOICE
YOUR GREATEST P OWER
WHO can we be, and HOW can we reach for our best self, and WHAT IF one of the great missions of our time is to keep our humanity human at its highest level by the reach for the Big Ten Humanitarian Quali ties?
“How do we change the future?” - “Change the story people tell to themse lves.”
—Brian David John son
“ The people who are crazy enough to think they
can change the world are the ones wh o do.”
— Rob Silta nen
You are worth all you tell yourself you are w orth!
In the dewy dawn of civilization, the awakening of human consciousness, and a time when mythology was the way people explained how the world works, a storyteller from long ago told a story in a metaphorical motif of how it all began.
After God made the sun and stars, earth and moon, he came down to earth and planted a garden. He planted lots of trees, especially fruit trees. From time to time, he came to see the trees as they grew. He especially liked to come when the springtime sun had warmed the air, and the fruit trees had begun to blossom and scatter their pink and white petals in the wind.
That’s when he wanted to have someone like himself who could share his delightful garden of abundance. It was time now for him to make someone to live here all the time to enjoy the fruit and take care of the garden. So, he took some of the clay from the earth and made a man, then made a woman, Adam and Eve, and breathed into them life like his own. They could live here in the garden and be a part of the delights and wonders of a Garden of Eden.
When God came to visit, they enjoyed walking along the pathways in the garden, smelling the flowers, listening to the birds, and eating some of the delicious fruit. Then one day, God said, “I like for you to enjoy the fruit here, but there’s one tree in the garden from which you must not eat any of its fruit. See it right over there.”
“Why not?” Eve wanted to know.
“It can be bad for you,” God said. “And because I have told you that you cannot, and if you eat some of that fruit, you will die.”
Eve said, “I don’t know what that means, but there’s plenty here without it.”
But one day, as she and Adam walked near that tree, Eve stood admiring its symmetrical limbs and green leaves, with fruit hanging down from every limb, she began to wonder, why. If they were given the power to choose, why did they have to avoid that one tree. She mused it must be a test of some kind, not about the fruit, but about freedom to exercise their greatest power, the power to choose. Were they just to surrender that power and bow down to authority without even pushing against the boundaries that provide them a chance to explore who they really are and learn how the world works? Eve and Adam walked over to the tree and stood admiring it and its beautiful fruit.
“I don’t understand why we can’t eat this fruit,” Eve said. “Looks okay to me. I don’t know what God meant when he said that if we eat this fruit we will die.
“Looks good, doesn’t it,” she said to Adam. “Why don’t you try one of the apples?”
Adam responded quickly, and with a coy smile, said, “I’m not going to try it. You try it.”
“Well, I’ll do just that, and find out what the real story is,” Eve said, as she reached up and picked a big red apple from the tree. When she took that first big bite, the sweet juice oozed around the side of her mouth. “Oh, my,” she said. “It’s gooood. It’s delicious!” She reached up and picked another one of those beautiful red apples and handed it to Adam. “Here. Try it. You’ll like it.”
So, Adam took a big bite, while Eve continued to bite into her apple in big chunks. “Good, isn’t it?” she said. “I don’t see anything wrong with these apples.”
“You’re right,” Adam said. “This apple is good.”
They walked on through the garden, munching away