The late Rev. Lewis E. Durham deserves credit as one of the most original and creative minds in our society. He was the Methodist minister who created Glide Memorial United Methodist Church in San Francisco. Glide became the center of social change in America and the focus of much of the hippie movement in San Francisco.
I went to work at Glide as business manager and treasurer eight years after Lew created the organization. At that point it was a thriving complex center of urban life.
Lew figured out, after a very short time, that I have a very insightful mind that could be useful to him.
On a regular basis, when Lew was confronted with problems or difficult issues to deal with, he would come to my office tell me the problem and ask me to think about it. He announced that he would be back for an answer in a couple of weeks.
Lew had noticed a phenomenon of my mind that I was not aware of. I have a capacity to think about a problem for two weeks and come up with a unique and original solution. I had no idea about this pesky capacity. Lew found it and used it.
Thank you Lew, I am very appreciative and I hope I will be able to continue using it for the remainder of my life.
You, my wonderful reader, may have such a capacity. I have no idea how someone can make use of that for you. Have them ask you a difficult question and give you two weeks to come up with an answer. It might work for many smart people.