On Friday of last week, I found myself unexpectedly in the office due to a cancellation of a seminar I was to do. As you know, President Bush had declared it a day of prayer and remembrance. I felt a need to do something, so I organized a time of prayer at the end of the lunch hour for the people who work in my office building.
About 50 people showed up to pray and cry together. I didn’t know the overwhelming majority of them, and those that I did recognize were just faces that I said good morning to in the elevator.
But we shared a couple of things – a renewed focus on prayer and our relationship with God, and a greater sense of community – of connectedness with each other. In that 30 minutes, we all focused on some more long-lasting priorities.
My wife pointed out that those frantic cell phone calls from those who knew they were dying all had the same message: “I love you.” All the striving for new cars, computers, phones and hi-tech toys didn’t matter in comparison to our relationships with our loved ones.
Over the past decade, I’ve had the privilege of traveling and speaking overseas. I’ve seen first-hand the respect and admiration in which American business people are held by most of the world. Truly, most of the world does look to America for leadership.
Back to the question of “What now?”
My suggestion is this. Let’s make personal commitments to live our lives differently and better, to return to an emphasis on a relationship with God and our families and friends.
But let’s also accept our responsibility to, in fact, be a beacon of hope and a model of freedom for the rest of the world.
Let’s recommit to being proactive, to finding ways to be of service, and to being men and women of character.
Let’s recommit to becoming good people, in addition to becoming good at what we do.
Let’s continue to be a beacon of light for the rest of the world.
