Hobbies and cultivating a “T-shaped” life

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This past Thursday, Mr. Alex Pomicter shared aspects of life he researched and tried himself. In this forum, he presented the importance and value of hobbies and the ideology of living a “T-shaped” life. 

Mr. Pomicter informed us of the benefits of having a wide array of hobbies. Taking the time to do things we like can help reduce stress, foster social connections, boost self-esteem, enhance creativity, and lead a healthier lifestyle. Hobbies can drastically impact our lives by allowing us to learn more skills, bringing us in contact with new people, and keeping us physically active.

Mr. Pomicter introduced the idea of living in the shape of a T by showing us inspirational people from history and how they can fit this lifestyle. The “T-shape” is based upon “Breadth of Knowledge,” making up the cross-section, and “Depth of Mastery,” making up for the post. It is essential to have a wide range from which to gather knowledge to live this way of life, not simply to be a jack of all trades and master of none but master of one. He used Ernest Hemingway, Leonardo da Vinci, and Thomas Jefferson to help us better understand the importance of having an extensive collection of interests. Hemingway was an author, outdoorsman, and war reporter. Da Vinci was an artist, architect, and engineer. Jefferson was the third president, botanist, and scholar.  We need to be rooted in one specific area; we should become a master in one particular thing while branching out and gaining experience to better ourselves. 

Certain benefits can come from living this way, such as being ready for future jobs, gaining new insight into your area of expertise, and making life more interesting. There are also perks regarding hiring, which include flexibility, better communication and collaboration skills, and hard and soft skills. This may seem like a new ideology, but the principles and effects have been tried and tested, as he brought out with examples of Thomas Jefferson. 

Mr. Pomicter listed some helpful keys to developing a “T-shaped” life. Start with mastering one skill, always remaining curious, reading broadly, actively dabbling in what we see and learn, and finally, increasing empathy. Empathy allows us to see a problem from a different point of view and find new ways to solve it. We must adapt and overcome difficulties, whether in academics, work, or even everyday life. As we end our time here at Living-Ed, we will be putting in the effort to expand our breadth of knowledge while continuing to grow our depth of mastery. 

Selling The Truth: Are You Buying?  

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Living a way of life opposite to this world is challenging, yet this is precisely what the Living Education students have decided to do. They have chosen to buy into the way of life—the Truth from the Bible—that the Church is selling them.  

At Living Education, the students experience many opportunities that help them internalize and promote the values and way of life the Church teaches. The students learn to serve during Friday-night dinners, cooperate as they live in dorms, and have opportunities to volunteer at youth camps during the summer as well. As the students buy into and internalize God’s truth, they become a mechanism for spreading these values back in their home congregations. Mr. Weston encouraged them to live God’s way of life for their whole life, not just while in the Living Education program. The students are not just to learn the Truth for themselves but to be ambassadors for Christ wherever they go.  

Mr. Weston gave several examples of how students living the way of life the Church promotes always matters. Students develop a strong work ethic, show outgoing concern by taking others on dates, and build trust by consistently acting according to their values. Even female-male relationships and how we behave towards those of the opposite sex matter—the students’ conduct determines their reputation and the Living Education program’s reputation.   

Living Education is a tool the Church uses to promote the biblical way of life to young adults. The students participating in the program can immerse themselves in true values and the responsibility to promote them through how they live the rest of their lives. The students have decided to buy into the Truth—what about you?  

Why Are You Here?

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Mr. Dexter Wakefield started his forum with a sentence we often hear:  “Why are you here?” He asked us to consider why we are members of the Church and why others leave. He then stressed the importance of distinguishing between primary and secondary reasons for being in the Living Church of God. 

He began by providing some of the secondary reasons he has heard throughout his years in the ministry for being in the Church while also pointing out the weaknesses held by all of these if they are our foundational reasons. One common reason Mr. Wakefield says he has heard from church members is that they “grew up” in the church. That is all fine and good, yet what would happen if your family was led out of the church? Would they have solid enough footing to hold onto the truth, or would they leave with their family? Another typical response is that people simply want to avoid the lake of fire. They are part of the Church more out of fear than connection with God.  We, as His people, are to obey from the heart. To have the choice to choose the other way of life, yet desire to please God. 

Mr. Wakefield transitioned from decent reasons he’s heard to what we should be holding onto, our primary reasons for being in the Church. We can see in Matthew 6 that we must first seek the kingdom of God and all His righteousness! We need to seek the truth of God and hold onto it for dear life. Taking what we are learning in the Parables of Christ class, God’s truth and the kingdom of God are like great treasures that, when found, we need to give all that we have willingly to obtain. God’s truth is that precious thing we must never let go of. Mr. Wakefield asked us, “Are any of these other reasons greater or of more importance than the truth of God?” The answer is… absolutely not!

Mr. Wakefield left us pondering the real reason we were here. Do we have a solid enough foundation to stand by the truth? We left this forum discussing how we could each personally better rely on God’s truth and desire to be in His kingdom as our firm foundation for our belief. Why will you stay here?

Guarding Against Marxism

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This past Thursday, Mr. Michael Brown, a minister serving eight congregations in Canada and North Dakota, presented the Living Education forum. He warned of the dangers in our world today, especially regarding media and entertainment.

Mr. Brown shared how the ideology of Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto, the third best-selling textbook in the Western world, has infiltrated our society. He showed how Marxist beliefs are the basis for why we should examine the present dangers in our world. He quoted Mr. Armstrong, who said the Soviet Union first started World War III by attacking our minds and spirit. We were questioned, if that was the case many years ago, how would it affect us decades later? Mr. Brown quoted Mr. Weston from a recent article that shows us how insidious these beliefs are in our current culture, “It is from Hollywood that the love of communism and the seed of hatred for good came.”

Mr. Brown encouraged us to push back on what is constantly forced down our throats and instead focus on what is good and true. Always be on guard because Satan is the god of this world and is said to come as the angel of light. He makes what is evil seem good and what is holy seem bad. We can see in Proverbs fourteen that the simple believe every word, but the prudent consider all. Mr. Brown said we need to be highly cautious of two main things in the world today: the media and Hollywood.

Media

Mr. Brown asked us how many had heard Google saying China had rigid censoring. But this is only one side of the argument. A quote from a Chinese journal explained that Google left China because of censorship. But what China censored was pornography and pro-LGBT propaganda; Google report left out this information. He asked, “Are we any better here in the West?” Tomorrow’s World Programs get censored because they are considered offensive to Western ideology. Censoring to impose cultural ideology is just a systemic issue, and we need not have an emotional reaction to it. 

Hollywood

Mr. Brown encouraged us to avoid exposing ourselves to entertainment that overly normalizes sinful behaviors. When looking at Hollywood productions, our sympathy is intentionally directed toward individuals who commit sinful behavior. Movies and shows attempt to challenge any good Christian values. Even the original Star Wars trilogy gave good values, such as order and discipline, to the “evil” Empire and negative values, such as disheveledness and poor leadership, to the “good” Rebels. Intentionally flipping right and wrong puts us in moral predicaments, demanding us to bend our beliefs. 

Mr. Brown concluded his forum by challenging us to fill our minds with real things about this world instead of the virtual. He encouraged us to learn physical skills from real people. Real people have their own interesting stories. It takes time to extract these fascinating stories, but it is well worth it. We left the forum better aware of Satan’s presence trying to pull us away and more appreciative of the situation we are in at Living Education to learn from so many people here.