And counting

When will the world learn that a million men

are of no importance compared with one man?

                                                                          Henry David Thoreau

We are always counting:

“How many people attended the meeting?”
“It was a wonderful service. I would say there were about five hundred people.”
“We’ve got 73 likes.”

Apparently, the bigger the numbers, the more successful the venture, the posting or the person.

By using that yard stick we start playing for the audience. Whether the one playing is church, artist or school. We try to provide what the people want, what will draw the crowds. Of course it is necessary under some circumstances to make adjustments to help an audience grasp a concept. We owe it to our message and them to help people understand. Unfortunately, too often the emphasis shifts from the message to the audience as the all important factor. And although there might be some merit in market research on all levels of society, we may loose more in the process than what we gain.

"Those who say they give the public what it wants 

begin by underestimating public taste and end by debauching it."

                                                                                                     T.S. Eliot

In spiritual direction I often see people feeling guilty that they are not helping more people, that their actions don’t have an impact on hundreds, that they do not partake in every project of their congregation. Speaking of such projects – I get out of breath just reading through some of those lists. I honestly believe many of those so-called projects have more to do with lessening our guilt than alleviating a real need. Few things look as important to the modern eye as a busy person or a jam packed program.

Without intending to, Samuel Johnson, the English lexicographer, complained of just this need to get to the hundreds of obligations to the detriment of the single focus when he remarked:

“John Wesley’s conversation is good, but he is never at leisure. 

He is always obliged to go at a certain hour. 

This is very disagreeable to a man who loves to fold his legs and have his talk out, as I do….”

The attention we give to our child or elderly father, the leisurely chat with the friend we meet at the pharmacy, the telephone call to an aunt – that do not count for much on our impact scale. There are just too few people involved.

Our biggest challenge is finding an alternative to numbers as a general yard stick.

It might proof to be a bigger task than we might have thought. Core issues will be touched.

We might have to look again at how we value a person. One person. The particular person who is standing or sitting right now in front of me. The one living with me. The one working for me.

When do we judge ourselves to be successful?

When is what we create or organize worthwhile?

We have to learn to wait and to listen carefully. For what? For whatever opens up for us to do. That which touches and stirs our soul. That task that only I can do. Even if it involves only a few people. Too much activity sprouts from obligation and not from the soul. I do believe that in this process of listening and discerning we will never be out of work. But it might well be on a smaller scale, done with more passion and conviction. 

What acted as a final trigger for this post – although I have been at odds with the numbers issue now for a number of years – was probably the picture quote that I posted on The Restory’s facebook page a while ago.

Suppose only three people read this post. My challenge is then to accept that it was still worthwhile and needed to be written. As I said, it’s not going to be easy. But we have to keep at it, because the general way is not a good way.

George