BIOGRAPHY
THE WHOLE TRUTH ABOUT COLLECTING CONNECTIONS
Mark Maxwell never thought of becoming a college professor, but when that day arrived, with a strong career in the music industry, he did not hesitate to make an impact on his students.
Surprising the whole class, he cared little for rules and “rights,” beginning the first class praying for each of his students. It is from his experience teaching young adults, that Maxwell, worried about the loss of creative processes among the youngest, realized the concrete reality and the need to share it in a book.
We all know how the focus has shifted in high school and college. Those responsible for educational programs are increasingly likely to want to prepare their students for the (ultra) competitive education rather than fostering the development of critical and creative capacities.
Faced with the overwhelming predominance of Twitter, Facebook and others, the author asks whether the explosion of social media in the last ten years has made it less and less propitious for creative geniuses to find space to emerge and grow.
Mark Maxwell proposes and urges his students to create purpose through service to others and to the community, to the detriment of the unbridled pursuit of futile and self-seeking connections, the norm in modern social and professional relationships.
The so-called networking repels and divides, while serving attracts and is attractive, and Maxwell advocates that one ought to serve unselfishly, caring without obligation and in a true and dignifying way, for only then can he walk a genuine path of success that will endure.
In this personal biography, Mark Maxwell tells of striking episodes of his life, from his youthful days, in which undesirable dependencies and behaviors dominated him, to the surprising accounts of how God’s dependence led him to the most important decisions and led him to success in the record industry and as a lawyer. He says he is unable to make good, safe decisions, especially when they involve major changes in his family’s life, without depending on the prayer and advice of close friends, especially his pastor.
Mark states that when we determine our career or our future based on our personal capacities, dreams and tastes, we lose what God has outlined for us, limit the dreams He has for us to serve others, and cut off the destiny He has prepared for those who are under our care and influence. And he emphasizes, “A successful life is about God’s dream for others through us. It’s serving. “
Through his testimony, Maxwell shows us the effectiveness of keeping a regular time with God, getting away from his environment, disconnecting himself, talking personally to God and, above all, listening to Him. Receive guidance and tasks. He uses the words Viktor Frankl so well put forth in his classic Man’s Search of Meaning, “The purpose is not to find yourself, but to lose yourself.” So what is your task?
After experiencing the pressure that life caused to his father, in a cocktail of alcoholism, mental illness and unemployment, the author went through a dark period of negative spiral many years later, while already practicing law, with labor and financial problems, that led him to question God about whether we are capable of bearing the emotional weight of this kind of burden. You will then have found the answer in Hebrew, where “galal” means true rest, which begins when you let go of that kind of guilt.
Mark Maxwell’s career is a living exercise of how much God can transform us if we trust in Him, and by serving Him. God taught him to respond to troublesome conflicts by serving with genuine compassion and interest, praying for family and friends, and especially for clients, following the motto “Be faithful where you are.”
by Paulo Sérgio Gomes
