Patch Aure

Playing music and living life

Playing music and living life

It is not wrong to rest; what makes music beautiful is the tasteful use of rest and sound. Pausing and resting within the context of music feels like a great guideline of how pausing and resting should be in living life.

Our responsibility is to articulate our being like how songs articulate certain meanings. Hiding and running away from this prevents us from realizing who we are meant to be. A kind of pause and stop with the intent of running away is not how pauses are meant to be.

Matthew 25:14-30. The Parable of the Talents

[DAILY GOSPEL INSIGHTS AND REFLECTION FOR MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION 239: AUGUST 27, 2022]

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Patch Aure

The cost of preparedness

The cost of preparedness

Is there such thing as being overprepared? Or is overpreparedness simply a product of anxiety and the need to prepare for something?

Today’s parable separates the wise and the foolish in terms of how prepared the former was and how “chill” the latter seemed to be. When crunch time came, the prepared virgins were able to celebrate with the bridegroom; while the unprepared virgins were locked out the venue for having moved out just to search for extra oil for their lamps.

It’s easy to fault the foolish virgins because they did not foresee or were too lazy to have backup plans. But I sometimes wonder about the costs of being prepared and the expectations that come from being wise, like how the wise virgins were.

Did they feel anxious? What if their backup plan didn’t work out too? Would they blame themselves because their preparations were not enough to address the contingencies that happened?

The burden to a person who tries to be wise is quite heavy, ridden with self-doubts and anxiety. A wise person seeks to correct one’s self and anticipate all possible scenarios, while accounting for what is controllable and uncontrollable.

In a way, there is cost and investment to pursuing a more virtuous life. When anxiety and pressure levels are rising, either we are purified or we burn out. But it’s important to have faith that there are infinite chances, or at least as many chances as we need, to grow and be better.

Matthew 25:1-13. The Parable of the Ten Virgins

[DAILY GOSPEL INSIGHTS AND REFLECTION FOR MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION 238: AUGUST 26, 2022]

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Patch Aure

What do we give up when we pay attention?

What do we give up when we pay attention?

Paying attention means to focus. The thing with focusing is – we cannot fake or BS actually focusing on something. We cannot pretend to focus.

On a lighter note, I find parallels between focusing and the concept of flow in positive psychology. Flow is the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. To be in flow is to do a task for its own sake.

Therefore, to be awake and to be prepared in this context is to be authentic with being good, virtuous, and God-loving. This is another articulation of the greatest commandments: loving God and our neighbors with one’s whole mind, soul, heart. Naturally, with a full and authentic love, we pay attention.

And the thing with love is – it is something that we can infinitely give.

So when we pay attention for love’s sake, are we really giving up anything at all? Or are we infinitely creating, or at least contributing, to the flourishing of our beloved?

—
Matthew 24:42-51. So stay awake, because you do not know the day when your master is coming.

[DAILY GOSPEL INSIGHTS AND REFLECTION FOR MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION 237: AUGUST 25, 2022]

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Patch Aure

Can we fully know someone without relating?

Can we fully know someone without relating?

When we become a fan or stan someone, is it the same as saying we really know that someone? What have we really related with, the person themselves or just an impression?

Without a means of relating and dialogue, we are only left with a biased impression. And that impression is not necessarily reducible to the identity of the person. Our impressions should always be subject to correction.

Maybe the difference between fandom and friendship is that the former is one-sided and based on impressions, while the latter is two-sided and is based on relationships that stand the test of time.

John 1:45-51. Come and see and get to know the person

[DAILY GOSPEL INSIGHTS AND REFLECTION FOR MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION 236: AUGUST 24, 2022]

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If our lives were a story, do we articulate its spirit?

If our lives were a story, do we articulate its spirit?

Oftentimes, the most meaning can be found beyond letters and words. It is in things left unsaid where we can somehow decipher a more complete picture.

To be superficial, to be a hypocrite, to live a life of BS – these inherently make us incomplete. Instead of becoming fuller, we become lesser.

There is something more exciting, more beautiful, when we treat our lives as prose and poetry that can be elegantly articulated. Why settle for the convenience of the surface when we can dig deeper towards a more meaningful core?

Matthew 23:23-26. The weightier things of the law

[DAILY GOSPEL INSIGHTS AND REFLECTION FOR MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION 235: AUGUST 23, 2022]

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Patch Aure

Messages require our capacity to perceive and understand

Messages require our capacity to perceive and understand

I find it fascinating that in today’s information age, search engines, and social media, people merely settle for what is spoonfed. The tragedy is when the information is available but the receiver does not know how to search for it, or does not even attempt to search for it.

Sometimes the message is there, but we choose not to see them, not read between the lines, or we lack the ability to understand the signs.

What if the Messenger has been knocking the door but we choose not to answer? The call may always be there but we do not always choose to respond.

Luke 1:26-38. Regina coeli

[DAILY GOSPEL INSIGHTS AND REFLECTION FOR MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION 234: AUGUST 22, 2022]

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The narrow gate is a filter

The narrow gate is a filter

We should be detached from material distractions yet attached with what we discern to be truly good.

Sometimes, the process of becoming is similar to learning a discipline – forgetting bad habits and learning good skills.

The process of having more is pleasurable; but the process of filtering out what needs to be dispensed with is painful and takes resolve.

—
Luke 13:22-30. The narrow gate

[DAILY GOSPEL INSIGHTS AND REFLECTION FOR MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION 233: AUGUST 21, 2022]

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Patch Aure

Humility ends when entitlement and expectation begin

Humility ends when entitlement and expectation begin

We can operationalize humility as the outcome of (1) awareness of the limits of our thoughts and agency and (2) acting accordingly. The moment we become unaware of our limits, we either overestimate ourselves and become proud; or underestimate ourselves and become “falsely humble”.

The great thing about action is that it puts to the test what we think we know; nothing is as practical as a good theory that is tested. When we also embrace attentive awareness and responsible actions, we also build real confidence instead of fluff and bluffs.

It is through thoughtful iterative actions that we cultivate a synergy of humility and confidence. And it is in these synergy where we also act on ideas whose time has come.

This is where real power resides.

Matthew 23:1-12. Anyone who raises himself up will be humbled, and anyone who humbles himself will be raised up.

[DAILY GOSPEL INSIGHTS AND REFLECTION FOR MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION 232: AUGUST 20, 2022]

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Patch Aure

Love is and should be the primary existence

Love is and should be the primary existence

Through marriage and starting a family, we come to intimately know what it means to love a person before that person existed. Through this simple story, we come to better understand that love can indeed come before human existence; in other words, love is the primary existence. It is thus fitting when we say that the other name of God is Love.

—
Matthew 22:34-40. The greatest commandment

[DAILY GOSPEL INSIGHTS AND REFLECTION FOR MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION 231: AUGUST 19, 2022]

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Many intend but few act

Many intend but few act

We often receive invitations or opportunities to do good. As one of the more popular Bible verses go: “Many are invited but few are chosen.”

Based from the research projects of current thesis groups, it is easy for people to “intend” to do sustainable activities. This could be in terms of bigger aspirations such as intending to start a sustainable enterprise; or this could be something as simple as intending to recycle packaging we receive from e-commerce services.

Yet, these intentions do not always translate into actions. My research groups’ working insights are related to social desirability bias, or a person wanting to intend an act that is perceived to be good by society. Who wouldn’t want to start a more sustainable enterprise or to recycle?

From a practical perspective, we need to have more support systems to help translate these intentions to action (incubation for sustainable enterprises, logistics support in terms of proper recycling). People tend to overestimate one’s self-efficacy and intentions in doing these things; but these fall short when it comes to actually acting on such good intentions.

From a personal perspective, are we really so weak individually that we have to generally rely on an existing support system to translate our intentions into actions?

Maybe this is why many are called, few are chosen; because many intend, but few act.

—
Matthew 22:1-14. Many are invited but few are chosen

[DAILY GOSPEL INSIGHTS AND REFLECTION FOR MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION 230: AUGUST 18, 2022]

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