ATTEND!

     The hallmark of a living system is change, for to change is to grow.  If you've been a visitor to this site, you know that, to quote MisterRogers, "Everything Grows Together."  And therefore, change has to happen simultaneously.  We can "think" we're only going to change one thing.  But when we do that, we've unknowingly created a ripple effect of changes.

     Take for example, the desire to lose that bulge around my middle.  Some regular exercise is what I need.  However, with a herniated disc, sit-ups are just too dangerous.  The gym my kids work at has a great "crunch" machine, so I'm thinking I'll go there for an hour three times a week.

     Oh no.  I have to buy a membership.  Then I have to plan time as to when I'm going to get there - do I do this in the morning, or at night.  Since I'm on the road a lot, perhaps it would be better to do it in the morning.  So if I get up at five, that means I have to push bed time back to .... a lot earlier than I'm writing this.

     One of the things I like to see is how things change over time, especially meanings of words.  "Crunch" used to be a bad thing, since one was crunched for time, or someone's car was crunched in an accident.  Now, it refers to an exercise to strengthen abdominal muscles.  Or how about the word, "swipe."  20 years ago, to "swipe a card" meant to take an item from a Hallmark store; now it's what you do when you want to purchase something on credit.

     As for the word "attend," it comes from the Old French word, "attendre," which means, "to heed."   It's what we should do to our "call" (from the Latin, "vocare," vocation). Not just hear, but listen..."attentively."

     While there are still several meanings to the word in the dictionary, the first one is the most commonly used definition - "to show up"...for class, for an event, for a meeting.  The more original meaning was that one had to show up in order to attend (what we refer to now as "pay attention") to what was presented (present - as in, "a gift that's given," "now" or even, "here", which is sometimes the response when one takes "attend"ance).

     So what does this have to do with this week's Marketing Matter?

     1) Attend something this Lent.  Stations of the Cross, Bible study, or a neighborhood faith group gathering.  Attending might be just what you need (although you may not realize you need it).

     2) Attend to what's happening in your school...pay attention to the things that you sometimes take for granted.  What you consider to be ordinary may really be something quite extraordinary, and when their extraordinary, they're remarkable.  And remarkable things are marketable things.

     3) And maybe we can just "attend" - take some time to listen to what God is telling us.  We can do all the talking and asking when we're praying, but real prayer is communication with God.  And if we don't allow Him to talk while we listen, we're not really praying.  That might be something new and "out of the ordinary," but it's very appropriate since we're not in ordinary time.

     And, if it's new, that means it's a change from the old, and change is the hallmark of a living system.

© Michael V. Ziemski, SchoolAdvancement, 2010 (Original Publication Date: 20050307)

Back to Marketing Matters Index