Become a Flexible Person
- Category: Gospel Truth
- Date 01-01-2006
- 307 views
The Japanese have a proverb, “The bamboo that bends is stronger than the oak that resists.” The oak tree is an important component of hardwood forests and is ranked among the world’s strongest woods. On the other hand, the bamboo belongs to the grass family, has a hollow stem and is generally a soft plant.
In hard times, however, it is a tree with a flexible stem that is able to withstand a storm. The one with a hard stem breaks in the face of a strong wind. This is echoed in an African proverb, “You must be willing to bend if you do not want to break.” Therefore, flexibility is the ‘ability to bend without breaking’.
When a person is flexible, he is able to adapt to new situations including unfamiliar events that arise in the course of life. Flexibility enables a person to receive and utilise new ideas from various sources such as conversations, publications, mass media, get-togethers or even private meditations.
Adherence to God’s word often thrives on the softness of character. The Lord told Prophet Ezekiel, “I will give them… a new spirit… I will remove their stubborn heart of stone and give them a soft heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 11:19).
A flexible person is happy if he encounters challenges and is likely to view them as an opportunity to improve. He is willing to make changes in his plans and ideas in order to accommodate new perspectives. He can adjust his priorities to suit new realities in order to advance. A German proverb sums it well, “There is no such a thing as bad weather; only appropriate clothing.”
Faced with severe famine, Abram knew that it was useless to stick to his traditional home. He decided to go to Egypt. Along the way, he realised that the Egyptians might kill him to take his wife Sarai because she was very beautiful. He told her, “When the Egyptians see you… they will kill me…. Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake…” (Genesis 12:10-14).
To register success, it is necessary to think about problems and tasks in creative ways. Flexibility enables a person to cope with the changes in the environment in strategic ways that might also seem submissive. The disciples of Jesus wanted to know who could be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus “… placed the child among them… ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven’” (Matthew 18:2-3).
A flexible person finds it easy to embrace change. British Prime Minister, Wiston Churchill, once said, “There is nothing wrong in change…. To improve is to change, so to be perfect is to have changed often.”
When Jesus called his first disciples, the four fishermen, they were not afraid of change. They did not hesitate to grasp the opportunity. They quickly abandoned their work, “And straightway, they left their nets and followed him…. He went a little farther on and saw two other brothers… he called them; they left their father… and went with Jesus” (Mark 1:14-20).
Jesus Christ was accused of being too flexible on various occasions. One time, he healed a woman who had been crippled for eighteen years but the leader of the synagogue protested, saying that Jesus should not have done such a thing on the Sabbath. Jesus asked, “Don’t you untie your ox or donkey from its stall on the Sabbath and lead it out for water?” (Luke 13:10-17).
During Jesus Christ’s time, the Pharisees and other authorities interpreted religious laws in black and white. People who were understood to be sinners were to be condemned. On the contrary, Jesus taught that spiritual matters should be analysed differently.
He told Nicodemus, a Jewish leader, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:17).
Holy as he was, Jesus had a meal at Levi’s house together with many tax collectors and sinners. The Pharisees saw him in this environment and expressed disappointment. Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2:15-17).
The disciples picked some corn on and the Pharisees accused them of breaking the law by working on the Sabbath. Jesus explained to them the value of the Sabbath, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27).
In pursuit of excellence, one should not wear a strait jacket and become rigid. One must make a proper assessment of the situation and act accordingly. What works for someone in one environment may not work for another elsewhere.
For example, St Paul says that fasting and eating can serve the same purpose for the different people: “…those who eat anything (all types of food) do so in honour of the Lord…. Those who refuse to eat certain foods do so in honour of the Lord…” (Romans 14:6). He also adds, “But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do” (1 Corinthians 8:8).
“Flexibility makes buildings stronger. Imagine what it can do to your soul,” said Australian artist, Carlos Barrios.
Venansio Ahabwe is a lay Christian from the Archdiocese of Mbarara
By Venansio Ahabwe
Source: Gospel Truth, Leadership Magazine