Skip to content
Who's in the Video
Peter Gomes is an American Baptist minister who has served in The Memorial Church at Harvard University since 1970. Gomes is also the Plummer Professor of Christian Morals and is[…]
Sign up for the Smarter Faster newsletter
A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

How to get that “Aha!” moment.

Question: What impact does your work have on the world?

Peter Gomes: Well I have it on good authority – that is the people to whom I do preach and the people who take the time to tell me about it over many years – that I make people think. I make them imagine … see things that they would not have seen before. Or ask about things that they hadn’t thought about asking before. Or even I have the capacity, I hope, from time to time to lead people to what the theologian calls an “Aha” experience. Or, “I’ve never thought of that before!” Or, “What an interesting notion.” I rejoice in that. It’s the same skill and the same thrill that a teacher gets when somebody finally gets it after you’ve tried to put it before them. That’s the thrill of preaching for me, and I think I have the ability to do that in many cases.

Recorded on: 6/12/07

 


Related