The Value of Simplicity

Now and again we’ll see an ad that makes us think, “Wow, where did that simply fabulous idea come from?” Like the one where the man fell off scaffolding backwards toward the ground 100 feet below, but at 20 feet from certain death eight air bags suddenly popped open from his safety jacket and he landed safely… I got the message, but somebody somewhere had foreseen the simplicity of taking something designed for motorcars and redesigned it to suit a human frame! A story was told to me many years ago of a semi truck and trailer that had gotten stuck under a bridge. While the city’s best stood perplexed and indecisive, a young 10-year-old child walked up and suggested that they let the air out of the tires! The dispensers of simple ideas have a way of recalibrating the behavior of all those they influence! On a recent flight, I was treated to a delightful film about the life of an eleven-year-old girl. Starbucks and Lionsgate Films financed the production, a story about a spelling competition. Laurence Fishburn played the part of her spelling coach. At a crucial point when her frustration at studying simple and uncomplicated words, threatened to dash the dazzle, he asked the question: “Where do big words come from?” His answer: “little words; ‘Solterraneous’ is made up of two little words, ‘sun’ and ‘earth,’ in other words ‘where the sun and earth live together!’ “So let us learn the little words,” he taught her, “and then you will understand the power of language.”(1)

The moral of this film is mirrored through how simple people overcome impossible odds, by doing the simple things well – He, the coach, by allowing this girl into his life as salve to the pain of having lost his own daughter; She, the young girl, by reaching out to him in spite of losing her father in a shooting. They both stepped out of their prejudices about themselves and about others to win the game of life by doing an end-run around the opinions of those around them. Winners do not wait for the consent of everyone, but by doing what they must, they become the glue that holds entire communities and cultures together. No one can fail to look back on the effort of the intrepid without a certain glow in the heart that says, “I wish I could have done that.” But those “wishes” all began with a choice to work at it. John Maxwell pegged great leadership at the door of choice. Choice is what differentiates merit from mediocrity. Without effort there is no fait accompli. To a wise person even defeat is a teacher. Before a life can become La Nouvelle du Jour, it learns its lessons on the sidelines. Thomas Edison was reputed to have had more than 2000 failed experiments before he invented the light bulb!

There can be no greater choice in life than to live our life for the benefit of others…

The remainder of this article can be accessed on the Freeway Church website (via “Resources”)