“I want to be a great man.”
That was my prayer a few days ago. Those words were hard to say out loud. I have been trained not to say such things because they seem self focused and arrogant.
But, against all odds, I prayed those words anyway- and God heard me say it.
For the first time in my life, so pray something like that doesn’t seem out of bounds or foolish. It seems human.
Adrienne and I have been spending our after-kids-go-to-sleep evenings watching Downton Abby. I think that this is the third time we have watched through the series. It is intriguing to me in ways I would have never expected.
British period pieces have never interested me. Trying to wade through the social norms of high society Edwardian English culture seemed like a lot of (foolish) work for little reward. But, there is something about the characters in the Downton Abby story that are compelling to me. It isn’t the fancy, outlandishly decorated Abby or the melodrama of their everyday lives. For a while, the reason the story drew me in escaped me, but now it seems very clear.
They are great people. Or all least people who value greatness.
The wealthy landowners live in a culture in which honor is a currency, the more honor you have the more people revere you. But it isn’t just the wealth elite of the household that live their lives for phone. Even the servant of the house find great pride in serving and consider it an honor to do so, and to do it well. That is strange to me, but there is something dignifying in it all.
Again I should clarify: they are not necessarily “good” people. Some of them are awful humans, but a desire for honor shapes everything they do in their lives.
The Master of the House, Robert Crawley, the Earl of Grantham is the honorific anchor of the show. Though others grab more attention, he carries a gravitas that grounds the very ostentatious family into their style of life. He is the Sun in which all other characters revolve because of the mass of his character. By no means perfect, “Papa” as his daughters call him, exudes a greatness that others respect and aspire to.
His character interrupts my perspective of what a “great” person should be. He teaches me something about Jesus that I easily forget. I think that we should be humble like Jesus (which is true!), but forget that Jesus carried gravitas that makes him great, grand, worthy of honor.
I have needed the Earl of Grantham to remind me who Jesus is. (Wow, that sentence said something that was hard to admit) Though a Servant by heart and in action and the very definition of humility, his meekness does not make him less great, but fully expresses his greatness. It is the weighty person who has the character that humility demands. Humility does not take away honor or greatness. It takes honor and greatness in order to be humble.
I want to be a great man like Jesus is a great man. Great men and women are substantive, weighty, honorable, respectable not because they demand it from others or try to “lord it over” them to coerce them into getting their own way, but because they have the internal fortitude to live their lives for the good of others. This type of greatness is not always recognized and is rarely celebrated on the front page of news websites, but this type of greatness draws people to itself because it is so grounded and- at the same time- otherworldly. This greatness is not put on or merely performed, but radiated out like warmth from the Sun. This greatness is not self centered, but centered on Someone who is even greater.
I want to be a great man, because I want to be like Jesus.
“…It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Matthew 20: 26-28