The Applause of Heaven - Max Lucado [36]
But then, somewhere in the heart of the earth, the seed of God stirred, shoved, and sprouted. The ground trembled, and the rock of the tomb tumbled. And the flower of Easter blossomed.
Never underestimate the power of a seed.
for they will be called sons of God.
CHAPTER 1 5
THE GREASY POLE
OF POWER
The push for power has come to shove.
You know the power lingo. You know the power plays. You have a power wardrobe.
You think you have everything you need for power? Think twice and come to dinner. Now there are power table manners.
"Manners will take you where your money can't," states the "Queen of Courtesy," Marjabelle Stewart. This crusader for couth has developed a seminar to help you eat your way to the top. For six thousand dollars you can sit in on a seminar and learn the manners that have clout.
Here are a few examples of what Stewart calls "power failures":
• Never tuck your napkin into your collar.
• Never leave a lipstick mark on the rim of a glass.
• Never mash or stir your food.
• Never haggle over the bill.
• Never, ever, hand your plate to the waiter.
• Never read the menu like a Bible. You aren't there to eat, but to do business.
• Never stoop down to retrieve dropped silver.'
In fact, the primary rule of thumb in the quest for power is never to stoop down for anything.
Never stoop to appear weak. Never stoop to admit mistakes. Never stoop to help someone who could never help you. Never stoop to any level that might loosen your grip on your rung of the ladder.
Add "power etiquette" to "name dropping," "card flashing," and "title touting." Put it on the long list of games we play to make a name for ourselves.
"Power moves" are simply "King of the Mountain" on an adult level.
Remember playing that game as a kid? The object of the game is to get high on the heap and stay there. You push, claw, and climb until you get to the top. And once you get there, you fight to hold your position. Don't even think about sitting down. Forget enjoying the view. Slack up for even a minute, and you'll be slapped down to the bottom of the hill. And then you'll have to start all over again.
As grown-ups we still play "King of the Mountain," but now the stakes are higher. Harrison Ford in the movie Working Girl put it this way:
One lost deal is all it takes to get canned these days. The line buttons on my phone all have an inch of little pieces of tape piled on-the names of new guys over the names of old guys-good men who aren't at the other end of the line anymore all because of one lost deal. I don't want to get buried under a little piece of tape.
The push for power has come to shove. And most of us are either pushing or being pushed.
I might point out the difference between a passion for excellence and a passion for power. The desire for excellence is a gift of God, much needed in society. It is characterized by respect for quality and a yearning to use God's gifts in a way that pleases him. Recall the words of Antonio Stradivari, the seventeenth-century violin maker whose name in its Latin form, Stradivarius, has become synonymous with excellence:
When any master holds 'twixt chin and hand a violin of mine, he will be glad that Stradivari lived, made violins and made them of the best.... If my hand slacked I should rob God-since he is the fullest good.... But he could not make Antonio Stradivari's violins without Antonio.
He was right. God could not make Stradivarius violins without Antonio Stradivari. Certain gifts were given to that craftsman that no other violin maker possessed.
In the same vein, there are certain things you can do that no one else can. Perhaps it is parenting, or constructing houses, or encouraging the discouraged. There are things that only you can do, and you are alive to do them. In the great orchestra we call life, you have an instrument and a song, and you owe it to God to play them both sublimely.
But there is a canyon of difference between doing your best to glorify God and doing whatever it takes to glorify yourself. The quest