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Mack's Corner

Saturday, June 13, 2015

This Week

This week 06-16-15

Assume you don't know anything!

Most summers the Hope staff goes to the Leadership Summit put on by Willow Creek Church. I always learn a bunch of thing, but mostly I learn how to think differently. Most people really miss out on one of the great thing in life: Other people's intelegence. If you think that anybody who doen't think the same things that you do is not worth listening to, then you are a shallow person. For instance.. Here's a quick list of the things that stuck in my head one year. Marcus Buckingham from England said we should build on things we're good at and not work too hard on trying to fix things that we're not. His example was if a kid brings home a report card with A's in English and Science and an F in Math, most people will start working harder on Math. He said you probably want to get the Math above an F, but what you really want to push is English & Science. That's where you will excel. The other thing he said was "You don't want a team of well rounded people, you want a well rounded team." … You don't want a team of people who are all like you, unless everybody on your team has the exact same job as you. What you really want is a team of people who are good at different things, no one alike. Then, as a group you are super smart and super gifted... Colin Powell talked about the "Multiplier". For him in a war it might be the weather or some special technology he had. The hard part was to recognize what it was and then use it as much as possible to his advantage. I liked hearing Jimmy Carter because he talked about how he made decisions and what really happened during different events while he was president. That's always interesting to me no matter who the President is. It always seems that world changing events were decided by 2 or 3 people sitting up late one night trying to decide the right thing to do….. 
It's almost never like the movies where 20 people are in the "Situation Room" and the world is about to end ….. They had kids from Africa (who had all lost their parents to war or starvation or AIDS) sing, several people who were not good speakers were interviewed, one guy was not a Christian. They had a Handicapped kid who couldn't walk, couldn't bend his arms, was blind and looked very strange, play the piano and sing and had a film clip about him and his father, 2 amazing people….   Maybe the best thing they said was "You can always learn something from anybody". You don't have to agree with their politics, they don't have to be a Christian, they don't have to be an American, they don't have to be a great speaker, they don't have to be a great leader, they don't have to look good or be able to walk or have a lot of money, they don't have to be a certain race, or be older or smarter. And most of all they don't have to be like you and believe everything you believe. "You can always learn something from anybody"……

God's like that: He puts people in our path everyday, people who show us things, who tell us things, just plain everyday people. We don't pay any attention because they're not somebody we look up to. They're not smart, not rich, not famous, not on TV, not my boss, not my race, not my politics, not my age, not my gender.. bla,bla,bla….   But we yell at God "Show me a
sign! Say just one thing so I'll know you're really there! Just show me something!" …. God talks in a quiet voice through people just like you ….  Look around, maybe God is trying to say something… Assume you don't know anything,.

I wonder if the thing I'm good at is knowing what I'm not good at. There are so many things, maybe I'm a genius? ......

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Cooking 220 - 2 pans, 2 burners, 20 minutes - Living Well - Mediterranean Diet:

This is from the New York Times. I love stuff like this because you can pick up 4 things at the grocery store on the way home. start a pot of water to boil, change clothes, heat up a pan, saute a few things, cook the pasta, put it together and have a world class meal all in less than 30 min.. This is how we should cook. Buy something fresh every day. 90% of the people in the world do this every day, eccept they walk to the store and back.
  
Orecchiette With Cherry Tomatoes and Arugula

INGREDIENTS
Salt
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, smashed
1¼ pounds large cherry tomatoes, halved
12 ounces dry orecchiette
2 cups, packed, arugula
Ground black pepper
½ cup freshly grated pecorino

PREPARATION
Start bringing a large pot of salted water to a boil.

Meanwhile, heat 3 tablespoons oil on medium-low in a large sauté pan. Add garlic and allow to cook 10 minutes, until oil is fragrant but garlic has not browned. Remove garlic (save for another use).

When water boils, stir in pasta. (follow instructions on the box. get good pasta!!! = "De Cecco" pasta in the yellow and blue box)

Add tomatoes to oil in sauté pan, increase heat to medium-high and, when tomatoes start to shrivel and collapse, reduce heat to low and cook until softened but not shapeless, about 5 minutes. Stir a couple of times. Reserve ½ cup of pasta water.

Drain pasta and add to tomatoes, folding both together. Add some pasta water if needed for moistening. Fold in arugula and remaining oil. When arugula has just wilted, season dish with salt and pepper. Serve with a dusting of cheese. Or serve in about 30 minutes, just warm... GREAT!!!.

 Mack

Posted by Mack Oates at 13:18