“Winnie Cooper” Has a Theorem

            I loved the eighties’ TV series, THE WONDER YEARS. One of the young stars of the show was an actress named Danica McKellar.

            After the series ended, Danica attended UCLA, where she discovered a love for mathematics. She also found out she was gifted in the discipline.

            In 2005, she co-authored the Chayes-McKellar-Winn theorem. Not bad.

            I would be more than happy to explain to you the nuances of the theorem. Unfortunately, I do not have the time. (Hah, Hah!) Suffice it to say, she did a good job—I take by faith.

            In the ensuing years, Danica has written books primarily designed to encourage young people in their pursuit of mathematical knowledge. Bully for her! (I should read them myself.)

            I have no idea if Danica is a Christian, but I believe she models for those of us who are how we should do the best we can with the gifts God has given us.

            Of course, we should use our gifts to serve the community of faith. However, we should also use our gifts to serve the world, which blesses the Kingdom of God.

Casey at the Bat

William DeWolf Hopper was a superstar in Vaudeville and later, motion pictures, during the late 1800s and early 1900s. His main source of fame was his recital of the famous poem “Casey at the Bat” (“But there is no joy in Mudville-mighty Casey has struck out”). He recited the poem to live audiences over 10,000 times.

The poem was written by a gentleman named Ernest Lawrence Thayer in 1888. He and Hopper did have occasion to meet once. It was a year after Thayer wrote the poem. A club had invited them both to join them one evening.  The members convinced Thayer to recite the poem for them.  Hopper later wrote that Thayer’s version “… was the worst delivery of the poem I have ever heard.”*

I find it fascinating that Thayer, the very author of the poem, would do such a poor job reciting his own work. Yet, each of us has our own gifts. For Thayer, it was writing. For Hopper, it was performing.

What’s yours? Do you use it?

4There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but they all come from the same Spirit. 5There are different ways to serve the same Lord, 6and we can each do different things. Yet the same God works in all of us and helps us in everything we do.

11But it is the Spirit who does all this and decides which gifts to give to each of us (I Cor. 12:4-6, 11). CEV

*This story is found in the book BASEBALL ANECDOTES by Daniel Okrent and Steve Wulf.

Narrow Vision

In 1925, Jane Beeson had an excellent piano student. So talented was he, she thought he could make a concert pianist. Instead, Richard Nixon turned his attention to other areas.

A little over forty years later, at his 1969 inaugural, Mrs. Beeson sat in the presidential box with President Nixon during a concert. The pianist Andre Watts was performing. Inspired, Mrs. Beeson leaned over and whispered to the triumphant new president, “Now, Richard. If [you] had practiced on the piano, [you] could have been there instead of up here!”

Obviously, Mrs. Beeson had a wonderful sense of humor (or a prophetic insight to the future, depending upon your political point of view!) When Richard Nixon was a boy, Mrs. Beeson thought she had clear insight on how Nixon could best use his gifts. Her vision was too narrow. Nixon would grow up to literally impact the world.

Reading this story, I could not help but think about the vision God has for our future. In the Apostle Paul’s case, unlike Mrs. Beeson, God saw clearly that Paul was going to reach the Gentiles for Christ—and impact the entire world. Paul, on the other hand, had early on seen the logical connection between his gifts and reaching the Jews for Christ. Paul’s vision was too narrow.

Have other people shared with you a vision for your gifts? Do you have a vision for your gifts? What might God’s vision be for your gifts?