Faith

We all have been in situations, where we are up against a wall and facing uncertain outcomes. I have had my back against the wall on several occasions. Deciding on where to tend for college, deciding my major, sticking with my major, looking for a major, and other decisions in my personal and professional life. Each time I had insurmountable doubt on my shoulders and in my mind. I tend to lean on the notion that everything will be ok and work itself out for the greater good. This mindset or belief…I call faith. To me, faith is the will and belief, that when faced with intense circumstances and odds that are seemingly not in your favor..somehow we can trust in an outcome that favors those who believe. Have faith. If you feel your government is moving in a direction that can be detrimental to the good order of society…have faith that there are enough decent people in politics to move us back to the center. Dr. Martin Luther King spoke quite a bit about faith and trusting in the compass of humanity to do the right thing for all people regardless of their positions. This quote speaks to me about faith:

“The Arc of the Moral Universe Is Long, But It Bends Toward Justice.”

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

In high school, I took a class that was difficult and partly stressed me to the edge of losing my mental fortitude. It was the end of the grading period or semester, and I needed to do well on this test to pass the class. The teacher set-up a special situation for several students to take the test after school and spread us out around the class to avoid poor decisions. The teacher passes out the test, and as I get ready to take the test to determine my fate, a friend of mine turned to me perplexed. He was stressed and worried he wouldn’t do well on the exam. Plus, as he looked over the material he became even more worried. I turned to him and said, “have faith.”

In this moment, the teacher looked over and took both of our tests and claimed we were cheating. I fought the allegation with the help of my parents, because I did not do what I was accused of doing.

In my professional life, my doubt and uncertainty runs rampant. As an Administrator, we will make a million decisions the moment we wake up for the day. Then, once you arrive to school those million decisions are met with an exponential amount of separate decisions that affect teachers, staff members, students, and community members. Teachers are faced with the same burden. Those decisions can have a variety of outcomes and can result in other consequences if we choose wrong. Over my tenure as an Administrator, I have been faced with decisions I have made, with the intent to work for the benefit of both teachers and students…I find out later that my choices were not popular or met with not so kind thoughts. In the valley of intense disbelief and hesitation, we must always have faith that everything will work out. I am not saying make spontaneous decisions or not lean on data and experience to formulate a charge. I am saying, that when life is rough and unforgiving, have faith. Our faith can guide us to learn, grow and reflect. Our faith can also, move us away…into new horizons.

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