“But everything should be done in a
fitting and orderly way.”
(1 Corinthians 14:40 NIV)
“Let all things be done decently and
in order.” This scripture got me
thinking about “excellence”.
Excellence distinguishes the men from the boys.
It separates the high-flyer
from the mediocre.
It marks the difference between celebrated men and tolerated men.
Excellence – a journey, not a destination; an attitude,
not an attainment.
The world hates the demands of excellence yet respects it when on
display. Why? Excellence and convenience are strange bed-fellows. The two
are mutually exclusive. It is true: Those who
pursue convenience never attain the heights of excellence!
Excellence is not an event, it is a person. It isn’t what you do,
but who you
are that impacts what you do!
Excellence is not a function of where you are but who you are!
Excellence is not about what you have but it shows in what you do with
what you have!
Excellence is not what you do but how you do what you do!
Excellence is that touch of gold, the spirit, and the attitude
of heart that permeates all you do.
Excellence is a passion, a consummate desire to do small
things in big
ways. Excellence it is, that does common
things in uncommon
ways. Excellence it is, that does the ordinary
with an extra
touch.
The mundane
acquires the status of importance when a person of excellence does
it. Excellence affects our “being”
before our “doing”.
This is missing yet in a lot of places in our nation today. But I see
the dawn of a new day! Because as Booker T. Washington wrote in his book, “Up from
Slavery”, “No
race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a
field as in writing a poem.”
It reminds me of a story: After several attempts and defeats, Abraham
Lincoln eventually became the president of the United States. On his first day
in office, President Lincoln entered the Congress to give his inaugural speech.
Just in the middle, one man stood up. He was a rich aristocrat. He said, “Mr.
Lincoln, you should not forget that your father used to make shoes for my
family”. The whole assembly laughed; they thought they had made a fool of
Abraham Lincoln. But Lincoln and these types of people are made of a totally
different material.
Lincoln looked at the man and said, “Sir, I
know that my father used to make shoes in your house for your family and there
will be many others here too…. Because the way he made shoes, nobody else can.
He was a creator. His shoes were not just shoes; he poured his whole soul into
it. I want to ask you, have you any complaint? Because I know how to make shoes
myself, if you have any complaint I can make another pair of shoes. But as far
as I know, nobody has ever complained about my father’s shoes. He was a genius,
a great creator and I am proud of my father.”
 |
| "His shoes were not just shoes; he poured his whole soul into it." |
The whole gathering was struck dumb. They could not understand what
kind of man Abraham Lincoln was. He had made shoe-making an art, creativity.
And he was proud because his father did the job so well that not even a single
complaint had ever been heard.
That was excellence on display. Whatever you touch becomes gold. You
see, what John W. Gardner said is true: “The society which scorns excellence in plumbing because
plumbing is a humble activity, and tolerate shoddiness in philosophy because
philosophy is an exalted activity, will have neither good plumbing nor good
philosophy. Neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water”.
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