Not for Your Own Glory

God said:

In Life, there are times when you are to take a back seat, when you don’t have to be the Star of the Show, the Show Stopper, the Scene Stealer.

Sometimes, stay in the background. Sometimes, be quiet. The limelight does not have to be yours.

Sometimes, you don’t have to raise your hand first. You do not have to know the answers. You don’t have to tell the whole story.

Sometimes, be like the gloaming, a quiet time of day between sunset and dusk. It is the hush of a moment. You don’t have to be the amazing bright orange or purple or rose of the setting sun. You can be a quiet pause, not here to awaken the world to your brilliance. This isn’t to be a wild cheering scene. It is a moment when twilight becomes dusk.

Or, it is the moment when night recedes and ushers in the dawn. It isn’t High Noon.

You don’t have to go a hundred miles per hour.

There is no race you have to win.

Let this be a quiet time when you stay in the background. You give others a chance to outperform themselves.

You don’t have to outdo yourself.

You don’t have to shine.

You don’t have to be the loudest. You don’t have to the fairest of all. All eyes don’t have to be on you.

You can be like the seamstress behind the scenes who sews the dress. She doesn’t have to strut out showing the dress on the runway.

In a stage play, you can be the quiet voice who whispers a cue to the star when he has forgotten his line.

You can be like the person who nods approval. No jumping up and down. No wild applause. A quiet nod.

In a beautiful night sky, you can be the solid background that allows the bright stars to stand out.

If you are a car, you are not flashy. You are a car that doesn’t have to attract attention. You chug along.

You are not a gourmet meal. You may be a simple soup, not a production at all.

When a star comes on stage, it is enough to be the person who ushers the star onto the stage and then runs off the stage hardly noticed.

If you are a Christmas Tree, you don’t have to wear all the tinsel. If you are a dancer, you don’t have to shine all the sequins. If you are an Ocean, you don’t have to always be at High Tide.

If you are a statue, you are like the Statue of Liberty. You are simply there as you are, no calling attention to yourself.

If you are music, you are not an overture.

If you are make-up, you are not blaring.

If you are a chair, you are a simple chair. No one has to ooh and ah over you. You simply do your job without aplomb.

You are the strong silent type.

You don’t have to wow anyone, most especially yourself.

You don’t have to knock your circle of friends over on their heels. You do not have to stand out. You don’t have to dazzle anyone, least of all yourself.

You don’t have to be admired. You don’t have to reap all the attention. You don’t have to be front stage center.

What you can do is quietly go off-stage and leave the spotlight to others. Make space for others. Usher others to a front seat. Think! Serve! Give others room to shine. Allow others the prize plums.

Think! You are not here to strut your stuff. You don’t have to declare yourself a stand-out. Leave room at the top for others to wow the world. You don’t make any pretense of being less than you are. You also don’t steal the stage, even the stage of the little world of your individual self that is illusion. Vanity, saith the Preacher.

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