Doing Something Great

We have the potential to do something great every day of our lives...I thought of Tricia's gift to me next week, and how I could repay that gift. Doing something great in the lives of others is one way to do that....I found this passage by Steve Goodier especially poignant.....

DOING SOMETHING GREAT

When was the last time you were challenged to do something really...
well... great?

President Abraham Lincoln helped me to understand that there is a
bit of greatness within all of us. It is said that he often slipped
out of the White House on Wednesday evenings to listen to the
sermons of Dr. Phineas Gurley at New York Avenue Presbyterian
Church.

He generally pre­ferred to come and go unnoticed, so when Dr.
Gur­ley knew the president was coming, he left his study door open.
On one of those occasions, the president quietly entered through a
side door of the church, took his seat in the minister's study,
located just off the sanctuary, and propped the door open just wide
enough to hear the preacher.

During the walk home one Wednesday even­ing, an aide asked Mr.
Lincoln his appraisal of the sermon. The president thoughtfully
replied, "The content was excellent... he delivered with
elo­quence... he had put work into the message.."

"Then you thought it was an excellent ser­mon?" questioned the aide.

"No," Lincoln answered.

"But you said that the content was excel­lent, it was delivered with
eloquence and it showed much work," the aide pressed.

"That's true," Lincoln said. "But Dr. Gur­ley forgot the most
important ingredient. He forgot to ask us to do something great."

There is nothing wrong with average lives and average
accomplishments. Most of the good of the world is built on the
accumulated efforts of everyday people. But, as Lincoln seemed to
know, a life should strive for some greatness.

Are you part of a relationship that, if given more effort, could be
outstanding? Or do you volun­teer for an organization which is truly
doing something excellent? Have you joined a cause that is
attempting something great? Or have you ever said to yourself
concerning a beautiful dream, "I could never do that," while knowing
that if you were to attempt it and succeed, you just might
ac­com­plish something significant?

If Abraham Lincoln is right, then every life should strive to reach
a little further today than it did yesterday, for there is some
greatness in each of us.

-- Steve Goodier