How To Become a Great Person

Larger than life. This week made me think about larger than life people. Monday was a day set aside to remember the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.. You have to be among the largest of larger than life figures to have a nation honor your memory with a day.  Friday was a day set aside to observe the transition of the world’s most powerful political position, the President of the United States of America, also known less formally as the Leader of the Free World.  No pressure there.  The transition happened with all of the pomp and circumstance which this most important transition of power commands: President Obama flies away and President Trump is escorted to the people’s home past many thousands of cheering supporters.

Today many thousands of people march those same streets to register their opposition to the policies of the same man who was yesterday cheered.  The juxtaposition of these two “parades” shows the genius of our nation’s Constitution and character, for, as F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote, "The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function."  Our nation functions, left and right, conservative and liberal, with two wildly different understandings of what it means for a nation to be “great again.” Genius.

But the other thing that these two parades show is how fleeting fame, or glory, or greatness is; the difficulties that arise for one thrust onto the “larger than life” stage.  At the end of the movie, Patton, the great and controversial General is walking away from the camera reciting the words that are spoken to ancient conquering heroes, “All glory is fleeting.”  I pray success for our nation and our new President, but I also pray for the loyal opposition to be allowed to function with gusto.  Presidents and their policies come and go, one flying away and another marching home, but the power of the people must remain the constant.  These are the “great persons”, the larger than life people upon whom the functioning of the world depends as they live and serve the greater good.

“Jesus gave us a new norm of greatness…(R)ecognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. That’s a new definition of greatness….You don’t have to have a college degree to serve…You don’t have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don’t have to know Einstein’s theory of relativity to serve…You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love. And you can be that servant.”  Martin Luther King, Jr. Source: Drum Major Instinct (last sermon 4 Feb 1968) (discovered at inward/outward)

Giving Meaning to Your Dream

Athletes, with their big, strapping builds, often make good body guards.  So, it wasn’t too surprising that George Raveling made his way onto the stage on August 28.  In 1963, as the United States wrestled with whether it meant what it said about race, it was a good idea to have some young men like George surround the most prominent advocates of racial equality. George stood steps away from Martin Luther King, Jr., who was the last speaker of the day, encouraging the massive Washington D.C. crowd of 250,000 people who wanted the nation to see that racial equality was not an issue which was going to go away.  King’s script, debated with staff and drafted by King until 4 a.m. that morning, was going well, but it was not rising to the rousing moment the inspiring speaker wanted. So, departing from his prepared remarks, he launched into a phrase and a cadence which had become a part of who he was as a man. King’s voiced lifted up the words that changed his life, the life of the movement; words that a listening nation needed to hear.  “I have a dream.”  The most famous words of the most famous speech of the 20^th Century were not supposed to be a  part of the speech.

George, the volunteer security guard, liked to collect things. So, he walked the few steps to King, and as the crowd was roaring, he asked, “Dr. King, can I have that?” King handed him the folded papers, and so it was that George owns the most famous speech of our lifetime. (S. Davis, SI, 1.12.15)  But there is one odd thing about the pages. There is no “I have a dream” written there. George made two marks on the paper to denote the places where King left his text and instead started preaching from his soul.

I like to think that such moments are when a person’s spirit get caught up with the Holy Spirit, and God gives unexpected meaning to our dreams. For all of us, there comes a time, a moment, in which who we truly are is revealed. It may not be in a speech to the nation. It may not be a speech at all. But, there is a moment when we can go “off script” for God. Those will be the moments that reveal who we are; moments which define who we are our core. How we “let go” in those moments is how we will be remembered.  Our legacy is not by how well we stuck to life’s script; not by how well we obeyed all the rules; but how, in the defining moment of our lives, we had the courage, the will, to let our spirit sing the song which springs from our dream.  You may not see it coming, but life is going to offer you the moment to let go of the plan you have for your life. At that moment, step away from the script and let your spirit trust the Spirit’s voice so that God can give unexpected meaning to your dream.