From Preschool to Theoretical Physics - Coach Roland on Life Long Learning

Seeking is very important. The wise men followed a star, seeking the Christ Child. The shepherds sought the baby Jesus after having been given a hint by the angels (“you will find Him wrapped in swaddling clothes and laying in a manger”). Jesus’ mother sought for Jesus, and found Him in the temple (at which point He said, “don’t you know I must be about my Father’s business?”) The centurion whose daughter was sick came to seek Jesus, and when he found Him, the daughter was healed. Jesus told parables involving seeking: where, for example, the master came back and sought the servant, where the prodigal son sought his father, where the bridesmaids sought the bride, or where the shepherd sought the lost sheep. When Jesus was killed, Mary and Martha came to seek Him, but He was risen. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said: “seek and ye shall find.” Time and again, the process of seeking is important. Today we must also seek for Jesus. The shallowness of consumerism at Christmas t...

Resenting Parents is often a Factor in Why Kids Turn to Alcohol and Drugs . This is the title of a revealing article I wrote. It is a timeless classic. The article is about drug and alcohol use, and about the harm of emotionalism--but it also bears witness to just how important parents are. If you, as a parent are unenlightened and selfish, you are desitned to hurt your kids. Most of us came from dysfunctional homes. And the scars we bear affect the rest of our lives. Unless we wake up and begin to understand the reason for all the squabbling, fighting, violence, suppressed hostility and divorce, we will be doomed to fail in our own relationships and hurt our kids. Marriage is not meant to be a pleasure party. It is a framework in which we can work out the curse of original sin. Behold: every couple is Adam and Eve redux (being brought back). You cannot escape the legacy by just shacking up instead of marrying. I'm sorry but because it lacks honor and full commitment, it does not h...

Let's face it: 99.9% of us get angry too easily. We mask our anger with a pasty smile on our face, or perhaps we repress it and walk away. But we are angry. In fact, suppressed rage is one of the biggest emotional factors contributing to health issues. Another thing we do is find a euphemism to describe our anger: we say we are "upset, nervous, tired, or disappointed." In marriage, years of suppressed anger can result in someone "suddenly" saying: "I need to find myself or I've changed. " What they really mean is I'm resentful. In other words, sadly, "I'm harboring secret hatred and judgment toward you." Now let's get to the bottom line: if you have a problem with alcohol, drugs, food, or even porn, most likely it is a direct result of anger. How so? When we are angry, we need something to distract us from the guilt and soothe our hurting and frustrated ego. We need something to take away the pent up hostility and drain us of ...

Remember Ann Landers? She was the famous advice columnist who had a daily column in hundreds of newspapers from coast to coast. People sent her troubling personal problems. She gave advice, often quite good. I’ll never forget something she said. Near the end of her long and illustrious career, she was interviewed by someone who asked her: After all your years of giving advice, if you could give people just one piece of advice—what would it be? Being in the advice business myself, I could not wait to hear her response. She thought about it for a moment and then responded: “If I could give people just one piece of advice, it would be to be more forgiving.” She had seen too many relationships and families destroyed by resentment, unforgiveness, and grudges. She had seen too many people destroyed by bitterness and unhappiness, the result of not forgiving another. Her advice: Be more forgiving. All I can say is “amen.” If a person were to set out to ruin their own life,...