“For none of us lives to himself alone . . .” – Romans 14:7
A friend of mine was once asked to serve on a non-profit board during the period of a critical capital project in which his financial and leadership expertise and experience were especially valuable. My friend agreed, but halfway through the first board meeting the two top leaders of the organization excused themselves and left, assuming they had nothing else to contribute toward the particular topic being discussed that evening. The following morning my friend paid an unannounced visit to those two executives to gently explain that regardless whether they were contributing to the conversation, excusing themselves from that meeting left a negative impression on the rest of the board, a feeling that the project was not all that important after all. Ouch, I thought when some months later I heard that story! How many times have I done the same thing?
“No man is an island,” John Donne famously said centuries ago, and there is nothing like an isolating Texas ice storm to remind me of that great truth; for even though my wife and are blessed with the companionship of each other, such things as games, movies, books, jigsaw puzzles, hot chocolate and popcorn only go so far when housebound. Sooner or later we need fellow human beings, not just for the functional services they provide, but more importantly for their presence and influence in our lives.
“Strange, isn’t it?” the angel Clarence proclaimed to George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life, “Each man’s life touches so many other lives. When he isn’t around he leaves an awful hole, doesn’t he?” We all need that reminder from time to time that every action we take – or fail to take – good or bad, impacts someone else, as does our presence – or our absence – for “no man is an island.”
My friend did not show up that day to scold those two non-profit leaders for leaving their post, rather he came as their angel to impress upon them that their actions and presence matter. And I believe I must have eventually become privy to that story for the same reason – some guardian angel thought I needed reminding too. “For none of us lives to himself alone.”