Spiritual Greatness
Learn to build a vision with a resonant effect, in which the perception of the other becomes an empathetic endeavor, capable of giving meaning to life.
It followed an almost complete moment of silence, interrupted only by the background noise of the helicopter and its sharp vibration. They looked at each other, between them floating a deep sense of empathy. The wounded soldier, freshly released from the Vietnamese camp, tried to communicate his impression to Colonel Cal Rhodes and tell him a kind and maybe sincere word:
- I'm very glad to see you… Your son, Frank, got very ill. I tried to help him…but…he died.
Upon hearing the crushing news, which he didn't want to believe possible, Colonel Cal Rhodes was seized from top to bottom by a tremor of pain. His grief was so great that it burned into his soul like a hot iron.
Does your life experience coincide with the gesture of turning the heavy pendulum’s clock “forward” or “backward,” as a form of revelation of the inevitability of fate and the burden of forgiveness?
The soldier looked intensely into the Colonel's eyes, with a look that dispersed a deep emotion. He sadly nodded approbation. His eyes, filled with an overwhelming innocence, seemed to ask for mercy and forgiveness. Then, gathering all his courage and all the power of his heart, he told him with that immense sadness which he kept deep inside his heart:
- Your son saved my life that day… he saved my life…
Cal Rhodes seemed to have wanted to say something, but there was no point. He left his thought unfinished, unable to express his deep emotions of disappointment and suffering. The feeling of desolation suddenly invaded him. His entire world seemed to have crashed. He felt as if nothing made sense anymore. He burst into tears. He felt like a man who got out from a fairy-like illuminated room and suddenly found himself in a total darkness, from which he could not escape.
The importance of the magnificence of a memorable moment lies in the experience of being involved in it, not in the end result that it can guarantee.
Someone once said that weakness and strength always go hand in hand – The weakness of the lost vitality and the strength of the lost power. And what makes a man strong is his power to go further, choosing other goals and ideals in life that will turn the balance in his favor.
The end of the movie "Uncommon Valor" (1983) is particularly touching.
On the airport, when returning in the country, all the soldiers from the Laos camp were expected and embraced with great joy and tears in their eyes by their relatives. Cal Rhodes was expected only by his wife. She pressed his hands to her breast and kissed him fondly. She was glad to see him again and proud of him being able to save at least those prisoners, and if their son wouldn't have fallen sick and died long before the rescue mission was initiated, perhaps he also would have been saved.
And her joy did wonders – she changed the Colonel's mood. Suddenly, all those strong and harmful emotions that he felt with all his heart and conscience – shock, anger and sadness – disappeared. They hugged with much love, kindness and joy in front of everybody. Their life was starting again, receiving a new meaning.
Helen Rhodes knew how to change intelligently the perception of her husband so as to overcome more easily that difficult moment in his life. She proved a high spiritual greatness.
The strength of your leadership is reflected in the image and emotional energy you project onto those around you, even when your soul is going through tension and vulnerability.
Someone who is in a difficult situation feels good only if a great man is by his side. Pure joy can rise only when his state of mind are in harmony with the other person's mood. Helen managed to change his husband mood because she had a great power of influence on him.
Sadness and bitterness can be overcome only if you have the certainty that someone, an honest person, full of hope and trust, can give joy back to you that special joy that comes from somewhere deep inside and makes it last. Nothing helps more in changing your mood that the certainty that somebody loves you. The innate optimism cannot deny a real suffering. Only a person with a great power to influence can remove your negative emotions, an empathetic person who truly understands your feelings.
To take on the decision to move forward means to turn the key of your own past until you feel the mechanism give way, like the last resistance of memories that refuse to be locked away.
Spiritual Greatness has an overwhelming importance in human life, and therefore I didn't want to miss the opportunity to talk about this quality. As the spiritual greatness is the key element behind a character and a good and beautiful soul. It shows that overall vivacity of people – their inner need to manifest their emotions, to perceive those of others and then to change them. It's the definite proof that, deep within your soul, there is that huge grain of humanity, that spark that makes you different from other people and that makes you radiate pure hope and joy around you.
Just as ether fills the space between Heaven and Earth - so the spiritual greatness of the leader fills the gap between people's sadness and happiness, providing continuity in their lives. The corner stone of a leader's success is undoubtedly the most brilliant of his qualities: the spiritual greatness.
Conclusion: Spiritual greatness is the power that must always accompany you, especially in those situations, when you feel that everything is lost. It is the power of the soul that gives momentum to take the life from the beginning whenever you fall into the gap of despair.
A strong and tenacious character can overcome all alone critical situations, but the existence of a soul with him to support him and trust him, is that will propel and determine him to continue easier his way in the world.
