A child says to his father, “I want some money to buy you a gift.” The father gives the child $20 and says, “I do not want you to spend more than $15. Bring me the change.” The boy goes out shopping and finds a sweater for his dad. The sweater is on sale for $19, but is regularly priced at $34. When the child gets home, he excitedly tells his father, “I saved $15 on your gift.” This simple illustration shows how easy it is to do something good, although it may not necessarily be right. Saving $15 on a gift is good; spending more than $15 is wrong (in this situation). Those of us who believe that our eternal salvation is based on our faith have a tendency to disregard our works: that which we do.

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I do not always appreciate what I have. I am not referring to the many material possessions that I have nor am I comparing myself to the rest of the world and concluding I am blessed. I am blessed, of course… as are we all. I do not see much point in rating our level of blessing or comparing that level to others. I am referring, instead, to those possessions which cannot be measured quantitatively. What about our dreams, our visions, our passions… those things that excite us?

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When you go out to eat dinner at a restaurant, you rely on others to bring out your food and drinks. We used to call these people waiters and waitresses, but at some point we decided to call them servers; apparently androgynous terms are more politically-correct. The term server has obvious connotations of serving food in the food-service industry. But there is a much deeper meaning to the word, especially when we consider the relation to service as a servant. While you, as the hungry patron, may feel like you really need your server, it is the server who ultimately depends on you.

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I took a sort of test at work last week. It was a self-examination that resulted in categorizing the participants into one of four groups: D I S C. “D” people are dominant; “I” people are influential; “S” people are steady; “C” people are correct. I, as it turns out, am primarily a “D” with a secondary “I.” I took the report home and read my descriptions to my lovely wife who laughed more times than I could count. Apparently these results were fairly accurate. The interesting thing was that where I took this assessment was in a room full of leaders and future leaders within my corporation. The results were all over the place. In other words, the ability to lead is not based on a single attribute; successful leaders can be made up of a variety of character traits.

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I used to play a game of trust with my kids — when they were smaller. They would stand on a couch, facing inwards; their arms crossed like they were inverted bats. I would have them close their eyes and then I would stand behind them. I would say, “Trust me… and fall back.” It took some time for each child to obey. Even after witnessing their sibling safely fall into my arms, they would hesitate. We would talk back and forth while I waited for them to fall. It was as if their minds comprehended the game, but their bodies were unwilling. Finally each of them would fall. After a time, I would stand farther away and throw my voice so they would think I was far. At the last minute, as they were falling, I would run up and catch them. It is a simple game — but one that shows trust.

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