Today was one of those days that flew by so quickly. It also managed to give me some time to think, and consult the muses of wisdom and happiness. (They don’t exist, by the way.)
Anyways, so there I was, walking down the sidewalk after dropping off my rent check to the nice postal service lady. There was a fair amount of cement to cover, and it’s hot in Orlando this week, and I was wearing long pants. As my mind went through its usual cycle of images, evaluations, simulations, and imaginations, I hit upon a valid question for the internets: What do you define as greatness?
Okay okay okay, it’s a pretty common question, and lots of people ask it throughout their lives in self-evaluation. So I’m doing that now. It’s a good time, right? Planning the rest of my college education, my career choices and opportunities, my married life and fatherhood and all that (actually, I’m making a joke out of fatherhood now…I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it). But all of these possibilities surround my thoughts as of late, and now one of those questions is “What can I provide for my wife?” and then Greatness came to mind. And I had to decide how to define that.
So I’ll do so in two definitions: Secular, and God-centered. The secular view is based off what I see the goals of humans with no spiritual relationships, and the God-centered is what I must strive for, and what is hopefully unachievable (and therefore, perfect).
First of all, in this world we live, greatness is the highest goal in man’s eyes. Great leaders shape the world; Great men go down in the annuls of time: Great ideas build and grow and cause progression. George Washington was a great man, and courageous for his position at that time. Napoleon Bonaparte, while slightly infamous, was no doubt a great commander and leader of men. Caesar Augustus, arguably similar, was the leader of the greatest empire on the face of the known world, past and present.
But these men died. Their power came to an end (two were ended early and unwillingly), and the world went on its way, dutifully recording their stories for us to learn about in history class. Their money and power and control disappeared the minute they died. Life is fleeting, and therefore, power is the same. Greatness can then be defined as the impact we make on the world during our lives, and the lasting impact after we’re gone.
But what about time? Is the man who invented the screw and isn’t remembered any less great than Thomas Edison, who invented many things recently and has made as large an impact on the world?
And publicity? The media shapes and distorts people, and this makes a difference. While popular now, and basically a household name, will George Clooney go down in history as a great man? No one is taught who invented the microprocessor, but Ted Hoff helped turn modern technology into what it is now. Is he a great man?
Defining it secularly is tough, huh? It’s all kinda relative. So now I’m going to ask myself a question, and maybe you can answer it, too: Do I want to be a great man by the world’s standards?
No. No, I do not. I mean, DAAANG. That’s a lot of pressure. And I know that any lasting impact I wind up making will be the lame kind. Not Ted Bundy-impact, hopefully, but probably nothing worth noting on Wikipedia, much less Encyclopedia Britannica. So, no. But today, on the sidewalk, walking back home, I decided to work hard to be a Great Man of God.
That’s capitalized, not because it’s what I want to be, but because it’s worthy of the title. Few things are left today as God created them, and the saddest one is man. Made to serve and worship God, and be His fellowship, we screwed it up so bad that now we’re being replaced in society by women, who feel forced to step in and fulfill the leadership position men have left blank. It’s so sad that a great man can be over- popularized to the point of suicide, and this is considered normal. WHAT?! WHAT!?!?
That’s what I want to know. I’m getting off-track here, but it’s true…society has been numbing itself to its own suicide, and people just follow suit. I don’t want to follow suit. I don’t even want to follow a little bit. And that’s why I’m gonna do my best to be a Great Man of God.
Truly Great Men will walk with God through all the crap that gets thrown at them, and through all the doubts that arise, and through the most happy and fulfilling days of their lives. A truly Great Man will sacrifice his own comfort, dreams, opinions, and selfishness for the good of others, and do it over and over, until the day he dies. It’s simple, really: Be a Man, the way God intended.
So these questions: What kind of life can I offer my future wife? Will my children be happy? Will I be able to make enough money? What will I accomplish? What kind of impact will I make on the world? They are all important questions, and all questions I shouldn’t worry about, if my focus and effort is all focused on God. This seems to take away all responsibility, but far from it! My responsibility is greatest to my God, and He promises to watch over me and those who I watch over. I do my best to follow Him, and in return, I can be free of my worrying over things I can’t control anyway.
In other words, I have my work cut out for me. There’s a lot to do before I’m ready to take on all those responsibilities. A lot of rebuilding before my God is more important to me than other things, than my wife, than my future. Until then, I look forward to seeing you on the road to greatness- True Greatness.
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