Poet and lyricist Robert Burns collected folk songs from across Scotland, updating and revising them and reintroducing them to the nation and the world. In 1788 he transcribed an old song into a poem and then back into a song that is now known the world over. Auld Lang Syne is sung on the last day of the year as the New Year is about to begin.

A literal translation of the phrase “auld lang syne” would be “old long since.” It means “long ago”, or “days gone by.” The song begins by asking a question, “Should old acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind? Should old acquaintance be forgot and auld lang syne?” In other words, as we reflect on the year gone by, should we forget those times, relegating them to the foggy memory of the past? Or should we instead cherish the things that have happened in the days that have now gone by?

Usually our attitude toward the New Year is to rejoice in the new beginning and to resolve to forget the difficulties and hard times of the past twelve months. The old year holds moments of joy and pain, but we tend to focus only on the hard times, the suffering, the misery of the human condition, and we look optimistically toward the New Year dawning. The great truth in this old folk song reminds us that remembering days gone by is not about the things that happened, but about the people who were there with us in the middle of it.

For all that we have faced, endured, overcome, and even where we have failed, we must carefully look back to the past and have the determination to call to mind the good times as well as those good things that always find a way to come out during the bad times. We are able to do this because of the simple yet profoundly true statement, “It’s not what you know, but who you know.” The lesson of auld lang syne, of remembering the old year and celebrating the new, is that even when it felt like we were all alone, we never really were.

We all have friends, family, co-workers, and acquaintances that know us and love us just as we are. There is an old proverb that reminds us, “There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” It isn’t about all the things we know how to do; it is about the people who love us.

As we focus on this New Year, let us remember the challenges of the past, the difficulty and hardship, the blessings and moments of joy, laughter, and contentment, and especially the people who made a difference in our day to day existence. Most of our memories are remembrances of moments spent with the people we love. These people are the reason we get up and go to work each day, and the reason we smile when the sun isn’t shining.

Let us not believe for a moment that our best days are behind us, or that our friendships of long ago are gone, having disappeared into the past. Let us remember while we look to the future. It is uncharted and unknown so we must walk by faith and not by sight. The good news is that there are people we love and who love us who are here with us as we take these fresh new steps into 2012.

I hope then that all of us might be able to build on the lessons of the past year as we step into the new. The things we have learned and especially the people we have learned them from are not to be forgotten. Should old acquaintance be forgot, and days gone by? No! Let us remember those days as we look forward with hope to the New Year.

The holidays are here and it seems that we could not truly enjoy the celebrations, parties, and events of the season without the use of lists. For Thanksgiving we have a list for groceries, a list for the football schedule on television, a list of relatives to call, and a list of things to buy at the Black Friday sales early the next morning. For Christmas we have lists of gifts to give and to get, a list of people to send cards, a list of parades, events, parties, and get-togethers. We may even have lists of things to do before the end of the year and we will start the New Year with a list of resolutions.

All of these lists serve to keep us organized in an otherwise over-busy time of year. We wait all year for the holidays and before we know it they have come and gone again. We save, plan, budget, plot, scheme, and think about how to get the best gifts at the best prices for those we love, those we like, and those we are obligated to give gifts to because it is after all “the Season of Giving.”

We also hope and hint so that others might get us the gifts we most want. Being grown up makes it a little more difficult than when we were kids. Everyone asks kids what they want for Christmas. But as adults there are times we know what we want, know what it costs, and so we don’t put that on a list anyone will read. Maybe if we get enough gift cards we can get what we really want!

At this time of year it seems there are always complaints about consumerism and greed. Everyone is upset, at least for a few minutes, that the holidays have become so commercial. But then, once the line at the checkout starts to move again, we forget how irritated we were. The problem with commercialism and consumerism has to do with the motives and actions of other people, not with our own desire to make this the best Christmas ever, right?

The people who pepper spray other shoppers in order to get the flat screen TV for themselves, who stomp and trample others even as they are dying on the floor of heart attacks and strokes, those who scratch and claw to get in line, stay in line, and get the best deal – these are the people who reveal the dark underside of holiday shopping. However, how are we any different if we approach the holidays with an eye toward what we can get instead of what we can give?

Thanksgiving and Christmas are after all about giving God thanks for His bountiful provisions and about rejoicing in the promise of salvation declared by angels on high as God gave the best gift ever, sending His Son to be one of us, to live among us, to die for us, and to show us the way to new, everlasting life. The true focus of these special days is placed firmly on giving, not getting. Giving thanks. Giving gifts in order to imitate God as He has given us so much. And yet, we so often slip into selfishness and get carried away, if only for a minute, in the notion that it is better to get than to give.

The moral of the story is this – it is always better to give than receive. This is true not because there is anything inherently wrong with receiving gifts, but it is true because of the focus and attention of the giver. We give gifts, we give joy, we give happiness, we give people the chance to see how much we care about them and love them. We give of ourselves to express our love for others. We see then that the giver and the getter are both blessed when gifts are given. In taking the opportunity to give we find the greatest blessing.

Hopefully we took the time last month to truly give thanks for the people who matter to us. Now this month, let us look to these holy days as an opportunity to give with no thought of getting. Let us be selfless, not selfish. Let us be disappointed not by the gifts we wanted but did not receive, but let us be disappointed that we were not able to spend time with all of those who we love and who love us.

If we are obsessed with getting it becomes about the stuff, not the people. Giving gifts is not about the stuff. It is about the relationships we have. And there we find the true blessing of the holidays – the people we love. For each person in our life this year, let us seek what the angels promised on that first Christmas night so long ago, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace and goodwill toward men!” (Luke 2:14).

It’s September already. Fall is on the way. Here in Texas high temps have fallen into the mid 90s! Football season has started, and school is back in session. Fall is a season of distinct sounds, or a lack thereof. Quiet in the neighborhood where kids had been playing all summer, gunshots from hunters in the distance, high school football teams and bands practicing.

The end of summer and the beginning of a new school year brings with it a flood of memories and emotions. At times we long for simpler days and wish we were young and back in school. Some of us are old and have gone back to school! What we have learned in the world of the workplace is that whether or not school is in session we are always learning.

With school starting it is hard to miss the fact that technology is evolving. The tools that kids need for school these days are substantially different that the Number 2 pencils and Big Chief Pads we started with (or the chisels and stone tablets for some among us). Today we have phones that have more computing power than was in the Lunar Module. Computers come in all shapes and sizes. And where we passed notes, now kids send text messages in a language most adults cannot comprehend.

Technology in the workplace changes even more rapidly it seems, with new gadgets, programs, and upgrades every week. So not only are we always learning about the business, our products, and our customers. We are also learning to adapt and use new technology to do our jobs.

When it comes to learning we all know the saying, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” Those of us who have worked for any length of time in the real world know that this statement is false. It may take a little more time and effort, but old dogs can indeed be taught new tricks. Just think about the way business was done when we started in our job and look at how things have changed. Most of us manage to at least keep up.

Along with technology we see the job markets, economy, and even our customer base changing. How do we learn to adapt in changing times? How do we learn new tricks amidst difficulty and stress? To teach old dogs new tricks we have to use the right TOOLS. What are these TOOLS?

T stands for Tone – whether teaching or being taught it is important to have a positive tone. This really is a key to learning because we know that effective communication is more than saying the right words in the right order. Tone of voice indicates attitude and emotion, and a positive outlook goes a long way to helping people hear what we are saying.

OO stands for Over and Over – a positive outlook is followed closely in importance by repetition. In order to catch on quickly and learn new things we need to do it over and over. Notice, it is important not just to hear what to do, but to actually do it. Doing something is the fastest way to learn. Hands-on experience has been proven to re-wire how our brain works when it comes to learning new tasks. Old dogs tend to shy away from new tricks, or assign them to younger pups. Instead we need to take on new tasks with enthusiasm.

L stands for Listen – often it is difficult for older dogs to listen to those who are younger. At times this is based on a lack of respect. It may also be the difference in experience. While experience does help us in our outlook and expectations, we need to give those younger than us an opportunity to teach us what they know. Face it, they have grown up on new technology. We may have finally figured out how to set the clock on the VCR, but that is just to make it stop blinking, we have not used it since we started using DVDs. Kids entering the workforce today are several generations ahead technologically. They do lack experience, and wisdom, but that gives us an opportunity to teach each other.

S stands for Success – we need to celebrate success, no matter how small! As we set a positive tone in the workplace, do things over and over for consistency, listen and learn from others, we also need to take note of our successes. Even when it is a small achievement, it is still an achievement. Often times we put such an emphasis on getting it right and learning new things quickly that we disregard the small victories and are not satisfied until we have a major breakthrough. We need to remember that a large breakthrough is nothing more than a series of small successes added together.

With the right tools, proper motivation, positive reinforcement, on the job experience, and respect for others, we as old dogs can be taught many amazing new tricks of the trade. In fact, if we don’t we will not find success. Success in business requires the ability to learn. To learn is to grow. We need to be growing, or getting out of the way.

For some reason we are uncomfortable with silence. If we are in a room full of people and no one is talking you can feel the tension rise. When other people are around we don’t like quiet. In fact, even when we are on the phone, if the person on the other end stops talking we will either blame the slow computer we are working with, shuffle papers noisily, or make that irritating stuttering sound to fill the void and let that other person know that we are still on the line.

Who knows how many times a day we resort to small talk to prevent the looming silence? And the number one topic to discuss when engaging in the conversational art of small talk is the weather. We talk about the weather more each day than perhaps any other subject outside of work related discussions.

In these parts they have a saying, “If you don’t like the weather, wait a minute and it will change.” Now we know that’s a lie. It hasn’t changed for months. It is hot and dry, on the verge of being hotter and drier than it has ever been before. Small talk now has become serious! We are reminiscing about the Great Seven Year Drought of the 1950s, having to go further back in time to find times that were worse than they are now. Before long we will be remembering the Dust Bowl (and no, that isn’t a football game).

I heard one story recently about a little boy who was born in West Texas in the early 1950s. A little while after his fifth birthday he was outside playing one day. He suddenly came running into the house screaming as if he was being chased by a swarm of bees. What was it that frightened him so badly? It had started to rain on him and he had not seen rain ever before in his life. As the big wet drops began to hit him he had no idea what was after him, he just knew they were everywhere!

This month we will break records, we will be hot, we will pray for rain, storms, even hurricanes if that means some relief from the drought. The weather, once small talk, now dominates our thoughts and fuels our worries.

So what do we do when things start to dry up at work? When we have a different kind of drought? When our customers are going out of business, letting people go, or underbidding jobs just to have work? What can we do to help?

The first thought that we have in hard times is a natural instinct to push harder, work harder, and try to find new business, new customers, new ways to do business. The good news is that can mean we become more efficient, reform policies, and get creative about how we do what we do.

The bad news is that when times get lean we tend to start to panic. What we see as driving to earn more business can come across as us being pushy, demanding, and a downright busybody. What we see as making calls to customers to check on things can be perceived as pestering. What is even worse, when we stress, we stop using the good business principles we all know and we begin to over react and think that the war will be won and relief will be found if we just sell it cheaper, lower our prices, and, in the words of the George Strait song, “Just give it away.”

If we fall to the level of believing that success in business is all about having the lowest price then we should quit and go work for Wal-Mart. Giving things away does not earn business, it just tells our customers that we had too much mark up. It also tells them that they can expect these new lower prices all the time, even when times get better – and they always will get better, that is the cycle of business.

When we experience a drought, we can talk all we want about the weather, but sometimes we need a little silence. Our customers do not need to hear us talking all the time. They need to know that even in tough times we are here for them, will work with them to find solutions to their problems, and that they can count on us to be fair and do what is right. And no matter what anybody says, it isn’t ever about lowering prices; it is about building up relationships.

Yes, it is hot and dry. Yes, times are tough. Yes, we should all be praying for rain. And in the midst of the small talk, we need to remember that we are not here to take orders, we are not even here to sell things; we are here to make ourselves an invaluable resource for our customers. That means we whether the weather with them, and that’s not just small talk. When the drought ends, if we have been there with them and for them the whole time, they will stick with us. We will understand it better by and by when we finally see those showers of blessing.

Two hundred and thirty-five years ago, on July 4, 1776, the Congress of the thirteen United States of America unanimously declared their independence from Great Britain. After enumerating their grievances and listing the reasons for making such a declaration, the fifty-six signers proclaimed, “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”

They risked everything for this great experiment in self government, trusting that “all men are created equal” and “endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” They viewed government as being accountable to the people, not the people being accountable to the government. True liberty was seen in men being free from burdensome rules and regulations by an oppressive ruler. They stated that government derives it power “from the consent of the governed.”

They were cautious and even hesitant to make such a bold change in their government, but believed that there was no other course of action to take in light of the abuses coming from the King and Parliament. Britain was fighting a war with France and needed more money to continue the war. The people were already taxed at burdensome levels, so the governors decided to levy new taxes on the colonies. The Stamp Act among other measures was an attempt to charge taxes to the colonists all the while refusing them the right to be represented in Parliament. So they did not have a say in how they were treated or what was done with the money paid in taxes. This was indeed “taxation without representation.”

The colonists fought these new taxes, including the infamous Boston Tea Party. As they petitioned for the right to be heard on these matters, King George finally reached a point where he believed that the colonies were of no use any longer, and even had become too much trouble to govern. He issued The Prohibitory Act of 1775. In this declaration from the throne, he removed his authority, protection, and rule from the colonies. He declared that they were enemies of Great Britain and even invited mercenaries to help him undermine and destroy the “rebellious states.”

Imagine, a King offering to pay mercenaries to invade and disrupt settlements filled with his subjects. This Prohibitory Act was rightly seen as a declaration of war on the colonies. The King had made Britain an Enemy of “these thirteen united States.” Parliament disagreed with this move by the King and they began to argue with him about how to handle the situation, to the point that they instructed British troops to attack key ports and trade routes in order to try and re-take what the King had given away. As the King and Parliament debated and argued and fought among themselves, our Founding Fathers knew that something had to be done to assure the safety and survival of the settlers in the new world.

After several meetings of Congress the decision was made that in order to protect themselves from mercenaries and the British troops already in the country, they needed to establish a new government. They had been kicked out of Britain, rejected as a territory and holding by the Crown, and now were under threat of invasion. The answer that appeared to be the best was to declare to the world what had happened and to establish a new government, securing independence and liberty for the people.

In 1776, in order to do this, these fifty-six men were willing to give their all, to sacrifice everything for the sake of freedom. The revolution had begun and the world has been a better place ever since.

On this anniversary of the birth of our young nation, let us not forget all that we have been able to accomplish, for the good not only of our own country, but for the world. Historians tell us that each great society in the history of the world has left in its wake contributions to civilization. The Greeks gave us philosophy, architecture, and sculpture. The Romans gave us aqueducts, roads, bridges, public law, and military colonization. Italy during the Renaissance gave us the fine arts. England gave us representative government and public justice. But what of America?

The marks of a great civilization are seen in these things that contribute to changing things the world over. Historians list five such contributions from the United States. They include 1) diplomacy and peace keeping around the world, 2) religious freedom, 3) seeing all men as truly equal, 4) ethnic acceptance, that is, we are a melting pot consisting of all types of people from around the world and live, for the most part, in harmony, and 5) industry, that is our ability to work and produce the most affluent society in the history of the world.

America is great because her people are great. The form of government established by our Founding Fathers was designed specifically to allow men to have the freedom and liberty to pursue success, wealth, happiness, and whatever else they desire. The result has been that we as a nation have done more and reached further than any society that came before us. In 235 short years, we have changed the world.

Let us not forget the determination of our Founders, or their sacrifices made to make this great experiment in self governing a reality. For all the doom and gloom of the present time, in the midst of recession, depression, and frustration, and in light of the fact that we are far from perfect – we must remember this: we are the United States of America, and if we hang together we can make things better for ourselves and the rest of the world.

Do you live or work with someone who knows it all? If you do, you know that they know it all because they tell you every chance they get. They are the most well informed idiots on the planet. The truth is that they do know a lot. But they usually know a little bit about a lot of stuff. So while they have a vast field of available information to drone on about the depth of what they actually know is really very shallow.

The difficulty in dealing with a know-it-all is that no matter what you are discussing they believe with all their heart that they know more than you do. Contradicting them leaves them no choice but to correct you, and then to educate you by telling you more than you ever wanted to know about the topic under discussion.

The real problem is that with all the information we have available to us today with the internet, several hundred thousand channels of hi-def television, digital recording devices, and smart phones anyone can become an instant expert on any subject. But we have been deceived. We believe that to know something is the same thing as understanding it. We think because we have collected a set of facts in our head and can regurgitate those facts to others that this means we know what we are talking about. We have forgotten that knowledge by itself is actually not good for very much at all other than to puff our heads up.

There is an old proverb that tells us that “Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding.” Knowledge, on its own, is just information. A machine can be programmed to find and relay information. But when we take knowledge and add it to wisdom and understanding, then we really will know what we are talking about. This is not simply because the facts line up and are true, but because wisdom and understanding give us the experience to say what matters, when it matters.

The word wisdom refers to our perspective. To be wise is to see things the right way. To have the advantage of time, age, experience, and even failure to draw from as we look at a situation or circumstance. Age is no guarantee of wisdom though. There are plenty of old fools out there (no names please) and also quite a few young people who are “wise beyond their years.”

The word understanding refers to discernment. To understand something is to comprehend it. Face it, just because we know something does not mean we comprehend it. Comprehension involves critical thinking skills, and the only thing Mr. Know-it-All thinks critically about are those whom he condescendingly looks down upon as being intellectually inferior to himself.

Another proverb exclaims to us, “Get wisdom! Get understanding! Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.” So how do we get wisdom and understanding? Ask questions. To gain a proper perspective we need to question our present perspective. To gain understanding we need to work hard at comprehending. And frankly we need to learn to keep our mouth shut until we have a right perspective and comprehend the topic at hand, except to ask questions of the wise and understanding who are around us.

We need to use people as a resource instead of a sounding board. Too often we would rather tell someone all that we know than to listen and learn from them what we need to know. And lest we be deceived, we are not fooling anyone. When we spill our guts with pride and fail to listen we usually have taken the roll of Mr. Know-it-All and owned it.

We need to listen more than speak (you know what they say about why God gave us two ears and one mouth). And we need to ask lots of questions. There is no such thing as a stupid question, although plenty of stupid people ask questions! But in asking we should be seeking to know the truth, to learn, to comprehend, to gain a better perspective.

So how do we deal with Mr. Know-it-All? We must grin and bear it. We have to put up with him because he is there every day. We all know his face and the sound of his voice. When you started reading this article you were immediately able to call a face to mind, the face of your Mr. Know-it-All. So why must we grin and bear it?

Grin because deep inside we can actually laugh at the person who proves their ignorance by saying so much. And bear it, because as soon as we try to correct them we will open a flood gate and will likely have a difficult time escaping the deluge that threatens our own sanity.

Next time you run into Mr. Know-it-All, stop and remember that the only difference between you and him is wisdom and understanding. And a wise and understanding person knows that you do not have to tell someone everything you know all the time!