Benjamin Zander wrote, "Michelangelo is often quoted as having said that inside every block of stone or marble dwells a beautiful statue; one need only remove the excess material to reveal the work of art within. If we were to apply this visionary concept to education, it would be pointless to compare one child to another. Instead, all the energy would be focused on chipping away at the stone, getting rid of whatever is in the way of each child's developing skills, mastery and self-expression."
The reason Zander mentions this is he noticed the anxiety of his graduate students at the New England Conservatory. At the beginning of the semester he announced all students got an A. The results were nearly miraculous. The students responded to one who believed in them beyond performance. He had thrust them into a free world of possibility.
Has not God done the same for us? Has He not declared we all get an A for choosing Jesus as our Savior? Has God not been wonderfully clear He loved us before we were to the extent He sent His own son? Do we not get it? We've been saved, not on the basis of performance; but on the basis of the best tool of possibility...love.
So could it be we will see our world function in greater prosperity if we will give our spouses, children, public figures, and colleagues an A? What potential every region of society has if we can see past the unchiseled into the completed beautiful product called living beings. We are most blessed to get to be us. And we are each much better when hanging around those who apparently believe in us.
Have a good week by making someone else's even better. Give them an A....by simply believing into them what they can become.
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