Collective Worship Resource for schools: Do your best ... don’t give up

Reflection 1: Do your best ... don’t give up

REFLECTION 1 Do your best ... don’t give up

These are familiar words of encouragement – easily said and sometimes spoken more for the giver than for the one who is worried about their situation of preparing for, or doing, exams.

Doing your best in any situation is important – not just during exam times. It’s part of the message of ‘who you are’... in the same way that ‘giving up’ or ‘not bothering’ can also be part of that same message.

Nelson Mandela has been an inspiration to millions of people across the world for the way in which he dealt with a lifetime spent in prison for his beliefs. It might have been argued that in prison he couldn’t do much, but in fact he continued to inspire not only people near him where he spent many years of his life but also people far beyond in the wider world. To have given up could have meant being forgotten; not giving up meant his determination moved many to become different people.

You – doing your best – can make a mark on the lives of people you don’t even know are interested in you.

You can find more information on Nelson Mandela at:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/1454208.stm
http://www.sa-venues.com/nelson_mandela.htm

Today, J.K. Rowling, may be famous and wealthy – some people’s ideal of success. Her life has not always been so. She knew great sadness in her family life. At the age when many of you are taking exams, her mother was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Her mother died some ten years later. Reaction to her first writing was far less than encouraging - it’s said a dozen publishers turned down her first Harry Potter book. But she didn’t give up. Perhaps there was a mix of self-belief and determination. If so, then it’s worth thinking about the value of those qualities in your life too and not giving up.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/jk-rowling-learning-to-live-with-fame-fortune-and-life-without-harry-456091.html
http://jamesruncie.com/docs/film_rowling.html
http://www.bloomsbury.com/harrypotter/default.aspx?sec=1

David is a major figure in the Old Testament. He is championed as a king, yet through many occasions in his life he was troubled. Of humble birth, a shepherd boy, he became a leader of Israel. The author of a many of the Psalms in the Bible, he wrote poetry which has moved people’s spirits over the centuries. He was a fearless soldier - not only in defeating Goliath but in other seemingly ‘no hope’ battles. Some of his life was spent in exile or escaping from a king intent on killing him, at other times he was fêted as God’s chosen leader of Israel. He was also deeply human and involved in arranging the death of a man whose wife he longed (lusted after) to have as his own.

Why is he mentioned here? Because his life was an example of trying to do his best - and although failing on many occasions, he kept on trying to do his best. He didn’t give up. It’s those qualities which make him one of the most colourful - and memorable - characters in the Bible which has at its heart the love of God for each one of us and God’s wanting us to be as He made us to be. And in that journey through life to do our best ... and not give up.

http://www.oasischristiancentre.org.uk/Mobile/default.aspx?group_id=12664&article_id=22101

BIBLE REFERENCE Psalm 139: 1-6; 13-16; 23,24

REFLECTION

God of history and today, we pray that you will bless each one of us working for exams with a sense of value; that what we do should be our best because that is part of who you made us to be. When we get depressed, tired and want to be somewhere else remind us that what we do is part of the message of who we are. At the end of this time give us the contentment that says ‘I did my best...’

And remember ...

In a school report John Lennon (of the Beatles) had said of him :
‘Certainly on the road to failure ... hopeless’
(From: Could do Better ed: Catherine Hurley, pub: Pocket Books, ISBN 0-7434-5025-6)

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Reflection 1: Do your best ... don’t give up