The stack of documents overwhelmed me. The combination of big words, complex clauses, and fresh ways of seeing what I come to accept as a given was more than I expected. As I look back, I wonder why I thought it would be easy reading. The ideas were new, refreshingly different in a familiar kind of way. The details exhaustive, yet in their own way the words and complex clauses gave birth to a belief that the organization they described had serious potential.
With the passing of time, my understanding of the documents continues to grow. The pitch book, memorandums, and supporting materials describe a business that takes blends old and new in reaching for the future. Taking risk is rewarded with success. Accountability and transparency are foundations. Dreams and priorities are aligned. It seems almost too good to be true.
Perhaps that is the real question. Am I willing to believe that we can reach for something better?
It is easy to demand the ideals from others. I willingly call out friends, strangers, even God. My words eerily echo the Psalmist; “Don’t let the heathen get by with their sneers: ‘Where’s your God? Is he out to lunch?’ Go public and show the godless world that they can’t kill your servants and get by with it.” (Psalm 79.10)
Ideals can be as simple or complex as we make them. At the basic, am I willing to reach for a better world? Will I accept others in the present, recognizing the strengths in our differences? Will I act assuming the positive or live as if the negative has already won the day?
As I reflect I realize there is a gap between my aspirations and the actions that unfolded yesterday. I hear the calling in words and the spirit that authored them. I imagine the potential that comes with an engaging embrace. You and I can make a difference. Things begin with enlisting. The opportunity is here. What follows is our legacy. My mind is buzzing with the possibilities. We can. I can. It is possible.
