The View from 80

Most of you will remember a dear friend of DVULI, Pastor Gordon MacDonald. Pastor MacDonald has spoken to every class of the DeVos Urban Leadership Initiative since our pilot year in 1998. Each year when we invite him back, he tells us that he considers meeting with our leaders to be a highlight of his year. We always give away one of his many books—a book that is related to his talk and our core values. If you look on your bookshelf, you may find one of his titles there: Ordering Your Private World, Mid-Course Correction, Rebuilding Your Broken World, Going Deep, or A Resilient Life. Those in the earlier years will never forget his illustration of the “stomping boots” that all leaders must face. He gave the same talk for about 10 years at our request. Now, he brings new reflections on the joys and challenges in the life of a leader. 

This year, Pastor MacDonald celebrated 80 years of life—and yes, he will be joining us again in Orlando in April with the 2020 city cohorts of DVULI! He was a keynote speaker at our 2019 Reunion in Phoenix, and he reflected on “The View from 80.” His reflections included 15 lessons he learned and pearls of wisdom about each of them. The video recording of his talk is well worth listening to for a second time if you were at the reunion or for the first time if you were not able to attend. I’ve already listened to it twice and set aside time for my husband and me to listen to it together. Make sure you set aside about 45 minutes of undistracted time to listen and take notes in your journal. Reflect on what you wrote. Ask yourself: What three or four of his lessons made my heart stir? What habits or practices should I establish to look back at age 80 and have something to pass along to those behind me?
 
Watch The View from 80 below. (To watch the video, use the password: “GMAC”)