April 4; Are Bleeding-heart Behaviors a Waste of Time? MANAGEMENT BY THE BOOK: 365 Daily Bible Verse & One-Minute Management Lessons For The Busy Faithful
Chapter Four: Relationships; 4 April
Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows…
Isaiah 53:4a
| Are Bleeding-heart Behaviors a Waste of Time? |
Civilization
It was a crude crutch made for a child.
There in a display case in the Mesa Verde National Park are crutches from our stone-age past. We spent a day exploring the Colorado cliff dwellings of the pre-historic Anasazi Indians — they built their homes in the sides of sheer rock. They did not have the wheel; it would not have helped much; they had to climb vertical walls to get into their homes.
But they did fashion crutches for a crippled child.
Each was crafted from one rough stick, topped with a Y-shaped branch, held together with a leather yolk painstakingly stitched together. They are on display in the museum as evidence of the care—and resources—these stone-agers allocated to that non-performing asset: a crippled child. This took time and work.
Yet still, according to the official archaeologists’ interpretation, they sat in the dirt and lovingly crafted a crutch.
The anthropologist Margaret Mead (1901 to 1978) was once asked, what is the earliest sign of a civilized society?
One might think it might be a tool or a fishhook or a clay pot. Or maybe even an edged weapon.
Mead said, “A healed femur.”
This is the marker of civilization in a culture.
The Alert Manager wonders, how did the tribal leader manage this? Someone had to feed the unfortunate child. Someone had to cover for the personnel who took some sick time off and assembled the crutch. The cave-man leader had to organize staff around this ‘burden’ of a child’s broken leg.
Managing relationships is not always ‘efficient.’ But it is civilized behavior. This is how business gets done in a community.
Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows…Isaiah 53:4a
The caring manager will extend his influence. Simple. Even our pre-historic ancestors managed this.
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