Mark Twain? Seriously? Mark Twain…whatever…
I was nominated for a slot in the GA Governor’s Honors program my junior year of high school. It was a pretty big deal, but I didn’t realize it at the time. My English teacher recognized something in my writing, so she nominated me for this 6-week summer elective program. The competition was pretty strong for the program, and the final step was the interview. I have always been a pretty talker, so I expected to breeze through the interview. Then they asked me the question.
So tell us who your favorite author is. Who do you like to read, and why?
My mind went blank. I literally froze. I don’t know why it never occurred to me that they might ask this, but I was totally unprepared to give them any kind of coherent answer. So I said the first thing that came to mind:
Mark Twain. I like to read Mark Twain’s stuff. Then I stumbled through something about it being entertaining and teaching valuable life lessons along the way.
Seriously? I couldn’t have pulled out JRR Tolkien? I’d read the LOTR series every year since I was 12. What about Billy Shakespeare, or Victor Hugo, or Alexandre Dumas? How about I’ll take CS Lewis for the win…
Don’t get me wrong; I’m not bagging Mr. Clemens. It’s just that there are a lot of writers who have influenced my thinking more than Twain.
I should have spent a little time thinking through the interview, maybe even asked my esteemed teacher what the good interviewers might want to know. Preparing for the interview would have been a good idea. But I had no idea, no inkling whatsoever (did you catch that one?) about what the important questions were.
That’s a lesson in life that I’m still learning: know what the important questions are, and prepare for those questions. Determine what the big issues are, what I’m going to be asked, what I need to know before the time arises. Most of my life has been spent in reactive mode, and I’ve gotten along fine in most situations.
But I’m coming to realize more and more that I have to be proactive if I expect to leave a legacy, to leave a mark on the world. It’s true of parenting, in ministry, in marriage, in being a good neighbor, in following Jesus. Every area of my life needs to come under some scrutiny, and I must do a better job of living intentionally. It’s not enough to react well; I want to anticipate what the big questions are, and be as prepared as I can be to answer those questions well.
How about you? Ever blown an interview? What did it cost you? How are you preparing for the big questions in life?
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