Cloud of Witnesses
Every Christian is called to be a missionary and witness to Christ. And the Church, the community of Christ’s disciples, has no other mission than that of bringing the Gospel to the entire world by bearing witness to Christ. To evangelize is the very identity of the Church.” - Pope Francis
Every Christian is called to be a missionary and witness to Christ. And the Church, the community of Christ’s disciples, has no other mission than that of bringing the Gospel to the entire world by bearing witness to Christ. To evangelize is the very identity of the Church.” - Pope Francis
I was asked to give a speech at a large conference. While I am frequently in front of groups, they rarely have close to 1,000 people in attendance. I'm always a little nervous, but I was really doubting myself this time. In the weeks leading up to the speech, I was stuck in cycles of writing and rewriting, deleting, and starting over. I felt like I needed to be profound and innovative, especially given the caliber of the other presenters. I kept bugging my wife with whines, “What am I going to offer that adds anything? How am I going to follow that person?” Once I got to the conference, my nerves only intensified as people told me they were looking forward to it, and some of CLI's [Catholic Leadership Institute’s] wonderful board members shared their confidence that I would make them proud. After looking over my notes for the 100th time, I thought, “What am I doing here?”
A friend at the conference asked me if I wanted to go to one of the breakout sessions with them. I said sure, not even knowing the topic and figuring I would use the time to reread my speech’s outline a hundred more times in the back of the room. Quite the opposite. A woman offered a compelling, humble, and vulnerable witness, and I didn’t look at my notes once. Her story had several different connection points to my life, and I found myself in tears at the end. I wasn't alone. As I thanked her and walked back to my room,
I had the answer to my question: I wasn't here to give my talk; I was here to be blessed by hers.
How often in life and leadership am I focused on what I need to do, say, or contribute and then miss what I need to receive? When does my ego or insecurity keep me from being open to how the Lord is trying to bring me peace through another person? I was so concerned about impressing others that I almost missed what Christ was trying to impress upon me.
My nerves didn’t completely go away, and hopefully, I offered some value to the event. Still, the trip was an unquestionable gift because of what I received from one among a great cloud of witnesses. May you be blessed by the witness of another this week!
Learn More
Cloud of Witnesses is an excerpt from Dan Cellucci’s new book, Cleanup on Aisle Mine: Learning about Life, Leadership, and the Lord in the Day-to-day. It is available from Amazon.
Dan Cellucci is the CEO of the Catholic Leadership Institute.
