|
There Was No Road So I Trod One
--by Jan |
|
Sandra asks me to coach her as she prepares to give her presentation on Transformational Leadership. Mostly, I sit back and observe, and I tell her, "You have chosen a noble path." At the younger age of 17, Sandra emigrates from Peru to the U.S. and begins her new life journey. She gives, first, 10 years military service with an altruistic heart. Her tenure in Air Force leadership ignites her natural skills and returning to civilian life, at age 31 she enters a Ph.D. program in leadership to complement her skills and experience with formal education. On this path, Sandra will influence and have a positive impact on the lives of many - many for whom there is no path.
We all know these people for whom there is no path. Ones, who unemployed, won't look for a job; ones who need 'one more course' and never seem to be ready to start that small business; ones who listen to their fears rather than their dreams; ones who brood over old wounds; ones who float aimlessly about with no rudder. 
Poet, theologian, author, and speaker Edwina Gateley, shows us the way. In her book There was No Road so I Trod One, Edwina writes:
"In all of us there is a longing - however deeply hidden - for solitude, mystery and awe. It is as if a mystic lies slumbering in each of us who, from time to time, is stirred and aroused through experiences of pain, passion, grief or any deeply felt emotion. It is a depth of which, for the most part, we are not a little afraid: for where the mystic slumbers there is repressed passion and intensity of emotion which surely disturbs our everyday lives."
Sandra told me "I am full of fears." Yet she chooses to reach beyond herself and trod a road where there is not one. Although she doesn't exactly use these words, Sandra refuses to let the mystic lie slumbering.
"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." ---Anais Nin
|
|
|
|
Great and Noble
"I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble." -- Helen Keller
The word noble has several definitions, two of which come into play here: One is "grand or impressive, especially in appearance." Many would think of a "great and noble task" as climbing Mt. Everest, writing a prize-winning novel, or finding a cure for cancer - all things that would attract the world's attention and applause.
The second definition is "Having or showing qualities of high moral character, such as courage, generosity, or honor." When Keller talks about performing small tasks as if they were great and noble, she exemplifies such a noble character.
The two definitions are not mutually exclusive: Finding a cure for cancer could be a noble thing to do in both senses of the word. Few of us, however, are likely to accomplish grand or impressive things. All of us can accomplish small tasks with a noble spirit.
The words of Helen Keller remind me of two passages from the monastic Rule of Benedict, written in the 6th century. First, every guest is to be welcomed as if the guest were Christ himself (RB 53). Drawing on Matthew 25:35 ("I was a stranger, and you welcomed me"), Benedict teaches that the simple, everyday task of welcoming a guest is to be done with a noble spirit. Second is the instruction that the cellarer - the property manager of a monastery - is to regard all the tools of the monastery, and all of its property "as if they were the sacred vessels of the altar" (RB 31). This is not to promote fastidiousness, but a true reverence for the gift of each created thing.
To treat each person as if that person were Christ himself. To treat each object as a gift from God, to be used wisely and reverently. Let us accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble. --by Bill |
