Bruce Lee and My Grandpa Martin Cole - A Consuming Fire (Episode #39, 9 May 2021)

In this episode, I discuss the inaugural speech, The Difference, that my Grandpa Cole gave in 1963 as President of Texan Lutheran College (now Texas Lutheran University).  When I visited Texas Lutheran a couple of years ago, I obtained what I believed to be the first draft of that speech, which was originally called A Consuming Fire.  I don't know for sure, but I think he might have thought that title too intense a title given the subject matter of the speech, the role of a Christian Liberal Arts in higher education in the 1960s.  The essence of that speech is about our divine power within all of us to experience and absorb the powers of creation in math, science and philosophy.  He changed it, but I am keeping it because it connects well with the dragon energy of Bruce Lee.   I make some what I found to be surprising connections between my Grandfather's ideas and the ideas of Bruce Lee.  They both sought to connect with the consuming fire of creation within us as we connect to the divine power of the Universe, the infinite dragon energy within all of us.   I also connect a verse in the Consuming Fire to Weston Noble.   Blown away that I discovered this speech one day after doing a podcast on Bruce and Weston lighting your inner fire.   Just. Blown. Away.   (Note, I have 0 knowledge about what Bruce Lee's ideas on traditional religion were.  Shannon discussed some of that in her book, but that was not the focus of the book.  I am not making any implication as to what they were or not.  All I know for sure is that he would have kept an "empty cup" as to the mysterious power of existence and to take daily actions to connect with that power.) Total gratitude to Bruce and Shannon for connecting me to my grandfather in this way.