Hey! Hello?!
Are you listening?
Yes, that’s me, that pillar the old lady tourist is sitting
on. At least that’s what I was once—a pillar. Now I’m just rubble.
Once I was part of a magnificent
temple. I was one of quite a few pillars that held up the whole structure. People came and marveled. Not at me, but at the
great temple. They still come to look at the ruins, but the glory is gone.
I didn’t know what
happened. I guess I didn’t see how important I was. I thought that I was insignificant and that what I was doing didn’t
make much of a difference. After all, there were a whole line of us doing the same thing—holding up the roof of the
temple. I thought it wouldn’t matter if I left my place. So I stepped out of line, left my place.
At first nothing happened.
Thought so! I said to myself. But then it came. All of a sudden there was a rumble. First a beam fell down. Then the roof
came crashing to the ground, and that took all the rest with it. And I ended up in pieces—broken and strewn across the
ground. Down and out, as they say, and not much good for anything except for tired tourists to sit on.
Don’t let happen
to you what happened to me. If you know you’re in the place you’re supposed to be, doing what you’re supposed
to be doing, stay where you are and keep doing what you need to do, even if it seems insignificant. You are more important
than you think. It may not be a temple you’re holding together, but there are probably a lot of things and a lot of
people depending on you. Don’t let them down. Be a pillar—a strong pillar—that cannot be moved.
By Colin C. Bell
