HELLO!

My brothers frequently field questions from old classmates and former neighbours who played hockey and baseball with me, “I can’t find Kevin on Facebook, has something happened to him?” My brothers used to ask me how to respond, but now they know, “He is fine, just not on any interactive social media platform.” But there was a recent post my brothers thought would interest me: “Went to that hockey camp. Lowell MacDonald played for the Penguins. I remember driving down Bayers Road going to the camp. My brother and I were wearing full hockey gear. Good memories.” The occasion was Lowell MacDonald’s recent death.

I am NOT a nostalgic person, though I do carry with me stories I was a part of or were told to me, that help me navigate my life. I am a story collector, but the stories do not give me a warm feeling, they are neither stories of grievance, nor achievement. The stories I love open-up a portal to meaning, they help answer the “why” questions I love to ponder, and by why I don’t mean “why me?” but rather, “why does this speak to us?”

At one of the hockey school sessions Lowell facilitated, at the Saint Mary’s rink, he told we young kids, “It’s important to know your teammates want to win, but it’s also important to know they want to play too.” I never forgot that. Later, when I coached my youngest brother’s hockey team at the Halifax Civic rink, I carried that philosophy into my preparation for every game. I encouraged all the players to do their best and celebrated with them when we won our games. But I always kept in the back of mind, the amount of ice time each player enjoyed. To achieve both goals, I made up lines. As someone who loves math, I never scored less than 90% on a math test (yet oddly, never scored more than 51% on a physics test) I would assign a value to each player’s ability on a 1-10 scale (of course I never shared this with anyone). I would add all the numbers together, divide by three, and have three very balanced lines.

In my life, in every project I have helped to lead, I want to succeed, I want everything to go as well as possible. But I am resolved, it is a red line, that all who participate have “equal time/say” in the project. It means everyone is valued, and yet the assignments are arranged in an optimal manner. Example, I am part of our upcoming dinner theatre. I am easily the least talented member of the cast. It is not even close (acting = 2, dancing = 0, singing = -3). But director Bethe has given me a role with as many lines as every other cast member. That is generous and be-fitting of a church production. The only X factor, where my gifts do bring something to the table = volume. I score a 10+ on that. And in an amateur church theatre performances, I may be the one cast member everyone in the audience hears (even if fellow cast members don’t think this is so).

I hope to see you Sunday at 10 am, we have a Baptism to celebrate. All aspects of the service have been designed to optimize participation, giving people access to our collective effort, and assigned roles to maximize our effectiveness. “"I love it when a plan comes together".

Peace, Kevin

PS Bethe also plans events with an eye to effectiveness and diversity. Friday night she hosted a games night. James was excited to be part of it.