“Everyone has the power for greatness–not for fame but greatness, because greatness is determined by service.”
Even before I first heart my all-time favorite quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I knew in my heart that the message was true. As far back as I can recall, my prayer has been the same: “Use me, God. Show me how to take who I am, who I want to be, and what I can do, and use it for a purpose greater than myself.” – Oprah
This is Oprah’s opening paragraph for an entry from a booklet on “The Best of Oprah’s What I Know for Sure” that was included as a supplement to my O Magazine awhile back.
I had pulled out this booklet from my bookshelf the week of my trip, figuring that perhaps I could find time to read it and reflect a bit on it before getting to see Oprah in person. As life often seems to go, there was more to do in the few days I had that week to prepare for my departure, and I only managed to read this one entry, randomly picked based on where I happened to open up the book my one quick morning stop at Starbucks.
Interestingly this particular quote by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was also the first “quote” Oprah shared in presenting her life story and reflections from her own challenges and breakthroughs…
This idea that everyone has the power for greatness was a central theme to Oprah’s conference, echoed not only throughout her own sharing but also that of each of her hand-picked speakers leading us through her “The Life You Want Weekend” Handbook the next day.
Everyone was given this gift of life, and everyone is made unique and therefore specially equipped to give to the world what only he/she was designed/created to give in the way he/she was designed/created to give it.
Interestingly this particular point seems to be one of the most necessarily highlighted and foundational truths in my own faith/healing/wholeness journey, as well as in what I’ve been sensing that many people around me of all different walks of life need to hear and truly know. Passages from the Bible that speak this loud and clear to me include (1) the “I am fearfully and wonderfully made” Psalm 139 (see v.14 as reference point), (2) Ephesians 2:10 on how we are God’s handiwork with good works prepared in advance for us to do, and (3) 1 Corinthians 12, the passage on how we are created to function communally in our diversity as “One Body, Many Parts.”
When we start with truly grasping an unquestioned sense of “worthiness” and “purpose” in who we were uniquely created to be and become, then we have the confidence and courage (the boldness and optimism) to begin that journey each of us must embark on in discovering, defining and living out our unique “identity” and “purpose.”
Then there is the commitment to defining “greatness” and success not in terms of $ and fame, but in terms of service — although the $ and fame achieved by herself and her panel of trailblazers definitely lends a weighty admiration of and credibility to the “teachers” in what she referred at one point to as “one of the biggest open heart classrooms in the world.”
This point really helps to flesh out what and how she means that everyone has the power for greatness, because at the end of the day it is not exactly likely that everyone is destined to go from having very little to earning/generating billions of dollars (and fans?) within a lifetime. It is not likely, but (thank goodness in my opinion) it is also not in any way necessary for true greatness.
Rather, the idea of service is that there is the potential in every single human being to “serve” others, and to “serve” this world, making it better, nicer, kinder, richer, for having whatever impact each of us can uniquely contribute…Not only do we all have different gifts and talents to offer, but we also each come into the world with unique personalities, and from the day we are born we form a unique network of relationships in which we carry unique influence, enabling us to touch and imprint the world in unique ways with whatever it is we choose to do, and even more significantly however it is we choose to be. And anything that can become big always starts with the small, simple things, like smiles, hugs, kind words, a readiness to lend a helping hand when called upon.
Finally, there is then Oprah’s prayer to God… Throughout the conference she and the other speakers artfully referred to (perhaps could be seen as expounding upon?) God as the “Higher Power”, or “Life” who speaks to us and whom we must learn to listen to and hear…so as not to unnecessarily alienate any members of her audience (which it seems to me could ideally be anyone and everyone who would care to listen).
What I found interesting, however, is that no speaker promoting this idea of being able to get and therefore going after the life we really want simply by just focusing on our “self” or “fleshly desires” even as they talked about needing and learning to listen better to ourselves, to the deeper desires of our hearts… There was no way around acknowledging that there is something higher out there, who/which purposely pre-planned and pre-ordained each and every one of us, and who/which cares immensely about us and is always trying to speak to and help us if/when we become willing participants toward a “better” way/path.
There are of course lots more helpful points and insights and examples from the conference that I still hope to share, but hopefully this one quote which Oprah re-quoted in her opening speech provides a helpful, simple starting place for now… =)