Posts Tagged: NPR

“Circle of Concern vs. Circle of Influence”

On January 9, 2021 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

DTEB, “Circle of Concern vs. Circle of Influence”

In a wonderful book that I need to reread, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” Stephen R. Covey identifies two circles: the circle of concern and the circle of influence. The circle of concern refers to everything that we care about. Many of them are huge and important.  He includes such things as the national debt and the dangers of nuclear war. The circle of influence refers to areas in our lives in which we might be able to do something positive.

Covey goes on to say that the problem is that too many of us operate—or try to operate—directly in our circle of concern. But, since these concerns are not within our sphere of influence, we simply spin our wheels and don’t get anywhere. In fact, such a preoccupation with those things that concern us actually causes our circle of influence to contract. We become less and less able to change anything that concerns us.

Now, I think that it is safe to say that a lot of us right now are concerned with a lot of different things. This may be the greatest understatement that I have ever made in my life. Think about it: COVID-19, economic havoc, racial injustice, political instability—and that’s just today’s headlines. There are plenty of other things that concern us. And these things should concern us!

However, if we spend too much time on these things, thinking about them, worrying about them, talking about them, we simply dimmish our ability to do anything about them. Our circle of influence contracts.

For those of us who are praying people, even “praying about” our problems and concerns can be a euphemism for worry. I am reminded of an old Christian hymn that counsels us to “Take your burdens to the Lord.” But the hymn lyrics don’t stop there. The lyrics say, “Take your burdens to the Lord, and leave them there.” Even those of us who claim to be believers are prone to taking our burdens to the Lord, and then picking them right back up. That is why so many of us are bent over before we’re forty years old.

The circle of influence refers to areas where we can make a positive difference. These are areas where we are more or less in charge. Let me give a simple example. I can’t do anything directly about COVID-19. It is something that concerns me for sure. And it should! But I am not a medical person or a scientist. (I got straight Ds in chemistry, and the only reason I didn’t get Fs was that the teacher liked me and knew that I was a good student in my other classes.)

But what I can do is wear a mask and practice social distancing. I can wash my hands. I can take the vaccination when I get the chance. These actions are within my sphere of influence.

In the case of this pandemic and in a multitude of other concerns, the best question I can ask at any given moment is this: “What can I do right now to stay within my circle of influence to make a positive difference in this concern of mine?”

One of the many ways in which we get way out of our sphere of influence and into an illegitimate preoccupation with what concerns is our consumption of information. This has been called “The Information Age.” I’m not so sure that it shouldn’t be called “The Misinformation Age.” But no matter what you call it, it is largely a snare and a delusion. Even if the information is good and true (and much of it is not), does it really help us to change things? In most cases, I suspect that all the information we consume is junk food. A thing is believed simply because our friends affirm it on Facebook.

But even consuming good, nutritious information can cause our circle of influence to contract. For example, I have been listening to National Public Radio a lot of late. I had to resist the urge to stream NPR live this morning, before I had done my devotions, read my Scriptures, written and posted this post, taken the dog outside, or written my gratitude list. (Of course, I had already had some coffee. First things first!)

Now, there is nothing inherently wrong with National Public Radio. I think that NPR tries to be balanced and to go into depth in its reporting. Do they always get it right? Of course not! But I think they actually try to get at the truth. However, there comes a point when I have consumed all the news that I can handle. Anything more, and I am out of my sphere of influence.

In a deep sense, the Serenity Prayer is precisely what we need at this moment. If I, if we, are to stay in our circle of influence, we need to pray it many times each day. “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

There’s a longer version of the prayer that I like even better. It goes like this:

“God grant me the Serenity

To accept the things I cannot change,

Courage to change the things I can,

And the Wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time,

Enjoying one moment at a time.

Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,

Taking, as he did, this sinful world as it is,

Not as I would like it.

Trusting that he will make all things right,

If I surrender to his will.

That I may be reasonably happy in this world

And supremely happy in the next.” (Reinhold Niebuhr, Theologian)

So, may you have a serene, courageous, and wise day! And may you operate in your circle of influence today!

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“On Missing Wonderful Gifts”

On January 28, 2019 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer


I nearly missed a wonderful gift from my thoughtful, creative wife the other evening.  It all started with a phone call, and a silly comment that I made.

I had finished a long day of teaching at the university.  It is a hybrid class that only meets on campus three days during the semester.  Everything else is online.

I felt that the day had gone well, and I was very happy.  The students were smart and engaged—an interesting group.  I learned a lot.  I hope they learned something as well.

I called the restaurant where I normally work as a host on Friday nights.  I had requested the night off, and I was pretty tired.  Happy tired, yes, but even happy tired is tired.

Nevertheless, I called.  To my joy, they said “I think we’ll be okay.  Stay home.”

So, I called my wife, and told her the good news.  Yes, the class had gone well (I think), and I did not need to host tonight.  I would be home for supper.  And then I added, “We can just sit together in front of a crackling fire, talk, and watch a little T.V.”

Now, there was one little catch to my proposal.  I like our house, but it does not have a fireplace.  So, of course, sitting in front of a crackling fire was not an option.  However, my sweetheart is, as already mentioned, thoughtful and creative—and she has a very quirky sense of humor.

I was listening to NPR’s “All Things Considered” on the way home to catch up on the news.  Thank God!  The partial shutdown is over!

I was almost home, and it was about the time when NPR features a couple of folks—one conservative, and one liberal—who discuss the week’s political news.  The conversations are often spirited, but not angry.  Hearing some intelligent and civil conversation is quite a treat in these days when yelling seems to be the norm.  So, I really wanted to hear what these commentators had to say about the week in politics.

So, I rushed into the house, leaving my computer and books in the car, and barely said “Hello!” to my wife.  I am not sure if I kissed her or acknowledged how happy our little dog was to see me.  I did notice that my wife had set up the card table in the living room.  I rushed over to the radio in the kitchen, and turned it on.

“I made you a nice supper,” my wife said, rather plaintively.  It still took me way too long to get the obvious point.  I was being a jerk.  Yes, I was being an NPR jerk, which may be slightly better than a generic jerk, but only slightly.  I can be exceedingly oblivious at times.

However, my obliviousity doesn’t usually last as long as it used to last.  I walked into the living room.  My sweetheart had a little candle on the card table, and the T.V. was on.  There was crackling fire in a fireplace from You Tube on our T.V.

I had three simultaneous feelings: dismay, tenderness, and joy.

The joy and tenderness were because of my wife’s creative thoughtfulness.  The dismay was because of my insensitivity.

I turned off the radio.  I sat down at the table for a nice meal in front of a crackling fire.  I also told my wife how nice this was and how sorry I was.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with enjoying NPR.   There’s nothing wrong with appreciating civil discourse.

But there is something profoundly wrong about getting so invested in my own little expectations that I miss grace, that I miss love.  Flexibility is not a native plant in my heart.  Perhaps it isn’t native to anyone’s heart.  But I need to import it, tend it carefully, help it to grow.  Sometimes, the wonder in life comes not from having our expectations met, but by something that blindsides us.  As George MacDonald used us say, “The door opens behind you.”  And sometimes, the fireplace is in front of us.

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“WHAT WE LISTEN TO”

On June 14, 2017 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

“Oh be careful little ears what you hear!”  (Words from a Christian song for very small children.)

  4 “Listen, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone.

  5 And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.

  6 And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-6, New Living Translation.)

“So pay attention to how you hear. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what they think they understand will be taken away from them.” (Luke 8:18, New Living Translation.)

I have big ears.  I am the first to admit that.  But the size of my ears isn’t the crucial matter; what matters is how I use my big ears.

This morning, I was listening to National Public Radio’s show “Morning Edition” and a bit of NPR’s program “1A.”  There was a lot of bad news.  (I almost typed “bad noose”—a Freudian near slip, if ever there was one!)  Some of the news items involved a terrible fire in a high rise in London, a shooting of Republicans who were practicing baseball, and the questioning of Jeff Sessions, our current attorney general.

I was finishing up the dishes, as it began to rain.  I felt that gentle internal nudge, the one I’ve learned to call “God’s leading,” suggesting that I turn off the radio and listen to the rain.

And the rain was beautiful.

I am not suggesting that I or anyone else should not listen to bad, uncomfortable news, or news that contradicts our own opinions and values.  We should.  But I wonder sometimes if we listen enough to the rain, or to our significant others, or to the songs of birds.

Jesus taught that we should be careful what we listened to, as well as how we listen.  I need to (we need to) pay attention to the very process of our listening.  In the Luke 8:18 passage that I quoted as part of the lead-in to this post, the verbs for “hearing” are in the present tense.  The Greek present tense often suggests continual, repetitive action.  Learning to listen is an ongoing process.  To paraphrase an old commercial tagline for milk, “We never outgrow our need for listening.”

Despite my big ears, I am not a particularly good listener.  But I would like to become one.  To listen, to pay attention with the ears, is a wonderful gift we could give to ourselves and to one another.

Care to join me in a new organization?  Perhaps we could call it the “Everyone Attends Regularly Society” (E.A.R.S. for short.)

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