Response to Sadie Thompson’s Light from Many Lamps Post (Week 2)
This is my response to Sadie Thompson’s post on Enjoy Yourself – It is Later Than You Think by Frederic Loomis.
Hi Sadie! Thank you for your post on Frederic Loomis’ story. Your description of the leadership qualities that Loomis displayed is very insightful (Thompson, 2017).
The concept that life is short is neither novel nor new, but it often does take unexpected life events to remind us of the fragility of life. Being in the last trimester of pregnancy myself, I was immediately drawn to this story because I have been obsessed with all things baby recently. I felt a warm connection to Loomis when I read that he was an obstetrician and I felt heartbroken when I read of Marguerite’s loss of her baby (Loomis as cited in Watson, 1988, p. 24). However, it was Loomis’ statement “It is humiliating to find how quickly and completely one’s place is filled, but it is a very good lesson” (Loomis as cited in Watson, 1988, p. 25) that resonated with me the most.
I feel that Loomis exercises critical thinking by displaying intellectual humility here (Paul, 1990, p. 13). He recognizes the limits of his knowledge and influence and acknowledges that he is not irreplaceable. Between work, my two online courses, my pregnancy, and personal and church commitments, I find myself becoming overwhelmed with the number of tasks I need to accomplish each day, yet I am often unwilling to scale back in any of these areas. Mostly I just consider myself a capable and persistent individual. However, with some critical self-reflection, I know part of it is due to a sense of self-importance . At times, I feel that I am the only and best person for the tasks that I am assigned. However, Loomis reminds here that we are all indeed replaceable (Loomis as cited in Watson, 1988, p. 25).
References
Paul, R. W. (1990). Critical Thinking: What Every Person Needs to Survive in a Rapidly Changing World. Center for Critical Thinking and Moral Critique. Retrieved from http://assets00.grou.ps/0F2E3C/wysiwyg_files/FilesModule/criticalthinkingandwriting/20090921185639-uxlhmlnvedpammxrz/CritThink1.pdf
Thompson, Sadie. (2017, October 15). Light From Many Lamps. Retrieved from https://create.twu.ca/sadiethompson/2017/10/15/light-from-many-lamps/
Watson, L. E. (1988). Light from Many Lamps. New York: Simon and Schuster.