Character has been established as WHO we are and not WHAT we are, and I want to expand it to what we do.
I was watching the movie “Cool Runnings” one night and even though I had not been too interested in the movie, one of the scenes made such an impact on me that I have dedicated a chapter to it.
For those of you who have not seen the movie a quick synopsis, if you will. The Jamaicans decide to compete in the winter Olympic games in the four-man bob sled event. Their coach is an American guy living on the island who had participated in a previous Olympic game as a bob-sledder and was now very overweight and morbid. The men on the team convince him to coach them and they set of for the Olympics. Long story short though, the eve before the main qualifying event the team are celebrating except the driver of the sled, who is in his room going through each turn in his head and rehearsing the ride. The coach arrives at the door and asks the driver if he is okay and a little exchange takes place.
As the coach is about to leave, the driver asked him why he had cheated having had two gold medals, having had it all? The coach responded with a very powerful statement, “A gold medal is a wonderful thing,but if you are not enough without it, you’ll never be enough with it.”
That hit home very hard as often in life we tend to be defined by what we have and what we have accomplished. We revel in our achievements and accomplishments while ignoring the who we are becoming in the process.
The coach had been a champion, he had become something in life, but had forgotten to become someone in life.
To be clear, there is nothing wrong with talent, it is an inborn gift that each person has received, some in sport, others in music and others academically, the list goes on. Each person has something to give, and to serve others with. Talent allows us to become something, but character lets us become someone.
Take mother Teresa for example, she fought for over a decade to be allowed to work with the poor people in India and she gave up everything in order to exercise her talent to help the poor. What a remarkable thing, to have fought for so long and given up so much to exercise her talent … wow!
My own personal experience was when I was assisting a very special lady in Mozambique in the year 2000, just after their bad floods. She had taken a group of young girls to assist at an orphanage and I volunteered to go along and help look after them.
During one event, we had handed out coloring sheets to each kid, with one wax crayon each, not a box, just one crayon. When those were finished the other kids got a balloon each and when the balloons were finished the rest of the kids got a piece of string. So, everybody got something, except for one little boy who got nothing.
He disappeared and I felt terrible for the little kid and started looking for something to give him and he returned a little later looking for me. I was wearing a very weathered sweater that had a tear in it and this little kid, who was abandoned by his parents and was living in the orphanage, had gone and found a needle and some thread and came to sew my torn sweater. What an experience for me, I was in tears because this little boy, who had nothing, had found something to give. What a testimony of character, and one experience I will never forget.
We all have something to give, we all have some talent that we can share with others and serve others with, but we become so focused on ourselves that we often forget to serve. No matter how small or useless you think your talent is, somebody can benefit from it. Focus on who are becoming every day, spend time developing your character and your talent will be used for the purpose it was designed for.
Remember that talent is sustained by character, not the other way around and remember this … if you have to be without talent or without character … then be without talent.
Driven by love and fueled by desire
Shalom
