Having just written about success, I’d like to also look at greatness, since I think they tend to go hand-in-hand.

Much like success, greatness is something you can find a lot of opinions on. As a matter of fact, even the little tab of paper attached to this morning’s tea had something to say about greatness. Though I’m not sure if it’s a motto I’d live by, I found it interesting and thoughtful at the least:

“Feel great, act great, and approve of yourself.”

When I think of personal greatness, it usually involves something huge, grandiose and very recognizable. Like writing a popular book that deeply affects those who read it, saving a village from starvation, winning a race, curing a disease, leading thousands to salvation, painting a masterpiece, curing a disease, standing alone against a wicked government, traveling to the moon, that kind of thing. But I’ve got a sneaky suspicion that I’ve been looking at it all wrong.

I was struck with reflective wonder when I read this quote by Mother Teresa in a book titled, Becoming the Answer to Our Prayers:

“We can do no great things, only small things with great love.

It is not how much you do but how much love you put into doing it.”

In a magazine called Consp!re (it’s published by the same people that wrote the book I just mentioned) I read an article about a family who had committed their whole lives to serving just one person. It got me thinking about what true greatness is and how God might view greatness. In my thoughts of greatness, the focus is often on me more than the other people who would benefit from whatever great thing I did. But greatness should really be about others. Do I value people so much that I’d be willing to give my whole life to help a single person, even if it involved giving up some of my own comforts and even if that person was a very difficult individual to help?

Am I willing to do the small things, the needful things, the things that might not give me any honor or recognition at all, things that the world hardly bats an eye at? Things like sweeping a dirty orphanage floor, helping a stranger move, being the first person to show up at church just to wipe down the tables, giving someone a ride home, making a lunch for someone else, quietly praying daily for one in need, singing songs and reading books to your children, or taking the time to listen to a person who just needs someone to talk with; greatness can be found in such things as these. I pray that my eyes will be opened to see that not all greatness is accompanied by loud bells and flashing lights, most of it is done quietly and discreetly. It may be that in Heaven we will be surprised to find the most treasured things we’ve done were things we hardly noticed or remembered. Perhaps some of the most wonderful accomplisments are those that never received any praise from man, things that only our Heavenly Father sees. Such are the things I aim for.

“Success takes a moment to recognize and a lifetime to achieve”

-Me

I thought that one up while sitting at my brother’s graduation a few months back. Success is something that is often on my mind. What does it mean to be successful? How do you measure it? To be honest, it’s a topic still shrouded in mystery to me. How will I know when I have found it? Is it even something I want? If success is the opposite of failure then is a successful person simply someone who doesn’t fail? Or is it more than that? Teachers, parents, and leaders encourage us to strive for success, but we should be wary. The notion of success can sometimes be a deceptive one. People can commit their whole lives to follow the path that leads to success only look back later and realize, too late, that they’ve sacrificed all the most important things for a misconceived and unobtainable concept. Does success guarantee happiness and fulfillment? I can’t think of any passage in the Bible claiming success as God’s ultimate purpose for our lives. Like many things, it is not bad in itself, but it is something to approach with circumspection.

more to come…