This is the time of the year where employers begin to give performance reviews to employees, bosses go looking for feedback from those who work for them, and personal reflections during the long night hours abound. The question that haunts most of them is simple – how honest do I want to be? Will we be able to deal with the truth? Do we even know what the truth is?
Wisdom gives us the first step. “In the end, serious reprimand is appreciated far more than bootlicking flattery.” (Proverbs 28.23) However that is not the finish. The question that remains at the end of every review, reflection, or judgment is the same. What is next?
Most people accept the premise that honesty is the best policy. We believe it even though we rarely see it in politics, foreign relations, business dealings, or in any other aspect of life. In fact, most of us accept the clich? as true even though there is ample evidence that few, if any of us, actually live up to the words in any aspect of our lives. Is there something that we are missing? The simple answer is yes! What happens after the critical comments?
Students are used to the harsh reality of grades. Students know that tomorrow is a fresh opportunity to study more and demonstrate the knowledge gained through homework or tests. We accept criticism because we want to succeed, get ahead, or know that we are doing a good job. The challenge is what can we do with the data?
As fuzzy as much of life is God follows his own advice to the ultimate. He knows us better than ourselves! He is more than willing to let us know how weak, impotent, and inconsistent we are. In fact he insists that we know it as well! What happens next is the mystery of our relationship with the Divine. With poor performance comes the opportunity to take God’s hand. With a single choice everything changes. We fail and God’s life covers our own; we win big! I like this!
