I suppose that’s not much that a human can’t overdo. No matter what we’re drawn to, it seems so easy for that to be overdone, taken to excess, allowed to run unchecked. I guess even a good thing can become too much. No, I haven’t decided to become a diet counselor or a lifestyles coach for the barely rich and hardly famous. I’ve just been prompted to do a little soul-searching by something a friend of mine wrote yesterday. As I read what Tim had written about the greatness of servanthood, I got to thinking. That, my friends, always carries some danger. Nothing on the scale of Congress being in session, but danger nonetheless.

In my job, my career and my life, from time to time I find myself in positions and situations where some degree of leadership is involved, expected or required. As the southern deputy says in Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou?, I have nary the time nor the inclination here to explore all the subtle complexities of personality that come into play for me in those situations.

I know that there has to be some willingness to step up, to take account, to stand and deliver. We are expected by him who made us to use the capacities that we have been given and that have been developed by decades of opportunities. But we are also expected to use those with humility, sensitivity and understanding. We are given courage and character so that we can stand for what is good and right and loving, not so that we can bowl over those who get in our way. We are given fortitude and forthrightness so that we can live with integrity in an age of deceit, not so that we can smash our way through life.

To hold to the pattern that led Jesus to live in unflinching, uncompromising, unswerving devotion to purpose, plan and provision, we must not forget that he bore a cross, not a sword. We must remember that he, the very Son of God, walked amidst dirt and disease, endured insult and indignity, and sacrificed in order to bring life and chose death over disobedience. We must remember that the greatest leadership is shown in serving.

H. Arnett

9/11/09