Teach Them To Fish

When it comes down to it, which would you rather do: actually do the task for someone else or teach them to do it? There is an old legend about someone coming to a friend and asking for a fish. This person could have given the fish or taught the friend to fish. I’d much rather teach you to fish. Then we can leave the elementary things behind and press on to a deeper relationship. It’s part of my underlying philosophy of why I write these entries on the Writing Life.

This week I received an email asking if my book, One Bright Shining Path, Faith in the Midst of Terrorism (Crossway Books) was in Spanish and how they could get a copy for their mother who only speaks Spanish. I quickly responded with a key bit of information they didn’t have: the Spanish title for the book, Ayacucho Para Cristo.

Then I anticipated their next question: where can I find this book? I may have a copy or two some place and could have dug it out and arranged to sell it to them. Instead, I decided it was better to teach them how to locate the book. One of the best places to search for books with a wide variety of possibilities is BookFinder3U.com. When I searched for my Spanish title, I found a number of available copies through this site—and in fact through this link. The exchange only took a few minutes but hopefully this reader learned a thing or two.

Here’s my encouragement to you: what are you doing for someone else where you can teach them to handle the task on their own? I’d encourage you to teach them to fish.