Rotary News 8/14/08

First United Methodist Church Minister, Bob McKibben, Makes Presentation By Sid Riley
At Wednesday’s regular meeting of the Marianna Rotary Club at Jim’s Buffet and Grill, Member Greg Wise brought as his program event, Rev. Bob McKibben. Reverend McKibben is the pastor at the Methodist Church in Marianna.
His program concerned the philosophy of risk taking. He used examples of being in a Fourth-and-One situation in the closing minutes of a football game. The coach is faced with the options of taking the risk of going for it, or taking the conservative option and punting the ball to the opposition. Life is full of these types of options, and most people avoid the risks and take the conservative options.
However, this approach is often not the best option. "Just playing not to lose often causes us to lose", McKibben related. "What if Moses, Noah, or even God had taken the easy option? It was a fourth and one situation for them….and they took the risk." He related this situation to his time in the military when he was a fighter pilot. "In a dogfight you must always play to win. Just playing not to lose will result in failure", he stated. "In an economic downturn many businessmen take the conservative option and refuse to take acceptable risks, and in the process worsen the economic situation."
The Marianna Rotary Club has given eighty years of community service to our area.