Lecture Number 2

With lecture number 3 almost upon us (and that being the one I will be unable to attend because of Tisha B'av) I find myself scrambling to write a summary of the second lecture in the series. Part of the reason has been related towards my tendencies towards procrastination. Another part of the reason is I am trying to figure out how to best summarize the second lecture. The difficulty with this particular summarization is that I did not pay as much attention to the second lecture as I did the first. I know that is a horrible thing to have done, but I do willingly and freely admit that my focus is no where near perfect.

Part of the reason that I tuned out during the second lecture was the language used during it. As I have mentioned earlier, I have a strange fascination with language. In this particular case, the word choice of the speaker was what tuned me out. The speaker kept on using words like 'Destiny' and 'Path.' Such words remind me of the content of the sermons I listened to when I was a child. A side effect of me being reminded of my childhood sermons was to react in the same manner I did as a child, that is to say, I tuned him out.

While the personal stories of the speaker were interesting, the content of the lecture was much less informative than the first. Another thing that prevented me from being able to connect to this speaker as much as I connected with the first was due to the constant re-enforcement of the idea of taking a leap of faith. I understand and admire the concept of taking a leap of faith. That said, I think that this speaker was incredibly lucky. For many, leaps of faith often times are not rewarded. If the speaker had acknowledged that taking a leap of faith can be not rewarded, I might have reacted to his presentation better. As it was, the speech left me luke warm at best.