Long Live the King

by Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS  |  11/24/2024  |  Weekly Reflection

Did you know that you can become royalty, for the right price? It’s true — for the low, low cost of $50, you, too, can purchase a 12-square-inch souvenir plot of Sco¡ish land and call yourself “Laird So-and-so.” Now, this lordship or ladyship doesn’t come with the ability to boss anyone around, but maybe your friends will be impressed enough to bend the knee.

My point is, we’ve all got our own li¡le fiefdoms — folks or communities for which we have a feeling of responsibility. Maybe we’re not their “king,” but most of us have those we think of as “our people.”

Now, in this world, people lay themselves down for their kings. History is riddled with the bodies of men, young and old — and plenty of women and children, too — who were casualties of wars waged by men in power, men who never had to shed their own blood. But in the next world, the King dies for his people. This is leadership par excellence — the leadership of someone whose love is greater than his ambition.

We are all leaders of a sort. On the parish level, you have the obvious roles — serving on pastoral council, spearheading the capital campaign, leading the Altar Guild. But you also have the quiet ones who lead from the wings — the janitor who can always be relied upon to do his job, or the volunteer librarian who puts in extra hours on the weekends.

There is a saying — find your people. I say, find your people, and find a way to lay yourself down for them, in imitation of the greatest King that ever was.