I met a Native American at a conference once. He was a very happy, wholesome man, who carried a burden of belief about the way the world should be. The story of his people is troubled as one can only imagine. On many occasions in the past, they were in the way of colonial progress and today, they are often in the way of economic progress but, sadly, the larger powers seem to win out. I’d love to have spent more time with him and listen to his story but time caught up on us.
He had leadership potential and he knew it. His people had a chief but the day would come when he’d be the leader of his people. It was inevitable as he knew their hearts and he knew the value of the way of his ancestors and those living today.
I asked him if he looked forward to being the chief. He said, ‘not really’. ‘Why?’ I asked. ‘Well’, he replied, ‘I will own nothing.’ I was a little confused, leadership in my political culture meant security, prestige and to a certain degree a position that is rewarded with wealth.
He went on to explain, ‘If I am a chief and I see a person in my tribe who is cold and has no coat then I have to give them the coat I am wearing. I own nothing; what I have is for my people.’ Which model, his one or the one that came to my mind, is the upside-down one or even better, which one is the right way up?
Do not wait for leaders, do it alone, person to person. – Saint Mother Teresa