Thursday, September 27, 2007

Robert Fulghum's self-reflection questions

Monday on my sabbath I had time to watch Oprah. The show was on bipolar disorder, which is something that has come to the forefront in my ministry as of late. It was a really interesting show and there was an autobiographical book recommended written by Dr. Kay Jamison who struggles with bipolar disorder herself. So, I went to the library to pick up "An Unquiet Mind", but they didn't have it, but while I was there I managed to pickup a couple of other books, one of which is "What on earth have I done?" by Robert Fulgham. In the book he asks himself three questions I think are good for self-reflection:

1) What on earth have I done? "After all these years--what? I think it's useful to inquire of myself about the quality of my existence and my contribution to the commonweal. Never mind what I set out to do. What have I done? What's my record as a citizen of Earth?

2) What in the name of God am I doing? "...queries my actions on behalf of all that I say I believe and hold sacred."

3) What will I think of next? "...is a way of asking if my mind is a stagnant cesspool of worn-out notions or if I am mentally active--still replacing archaic information with fresh and better ideas? Am I still thinking--still asking--still learning?"

1 comment:

John Meunier said...

Great questions. Tough ones, too.