Saturday, September 23, 2006

Profile of Greatness

The first profile will not be about Churchill or Gandhi or Roosevelt. It will be about the manager of the cable franchise in Guymon, OK. Someone who didn't go to college, claims never to have finished reading a book and devours the Enquirer and World News for current events.

But if I were to identify the people I admire most, this person whom we fondly refer to as "Doctor Paul" would be on top of the list. Not because he is truly a doctor of good times but because he completely embodies the Greek concept of Kenosis, self-emptying. You cannot find a more selfless person, someone prepared to help at all times, someone who is willing and without reservation to part with his coat on one of those frigid panhandle mornings.

This is a person with pure joie de vivre. He does not have a doctorate on good times for nothing. Yet you can be assured of his very best effort whenever he works.

This person is not at all the spiritual type but he must do a lot of reflection whenever he is on top of those cable towers or whenever he tends his garden because the equanimity that he possesses can only come with a firm and grounded understanding that you will only discover meaning and find happiness when you dedicate your life to serving other people and doing good to everyone.

Truly salt of the earth.

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