There was a scientist, a preacher, a
businessman,
and an intellectual. No, they didn't
walk
into a bar (this isn't a
joke:
it's actually a
lovestory
- and it's a
truestory
at that). Rather, what each of them did was rivet my
attention
and win my
love
and deep admiration. Each of them had everything. Each of them lived
the whole nine yards (so to
speak).
Well ... almost the whole nine yards. Actually they each
lived about eight yards, two feet, eleven and three-quarter inches. And
I was left
wondering
who they'd be being (if you will) and what influence they'd be having
(in addition to the
vast
influence they currently had, being exactly the way they were being) if
they'd got it down to that final quarter inch.
So what do I mean by that "final quarter inch"? You could ask
Werner Erhard.
Or you could read on.
The scientist was jaw-droppingly
brilliant.
He had the whole thing laid out: from single-celled
protozoa eons ago, to the
future
landing on Mars, and beyond. It can all be understood and proved, he
asserted, if not now then soon, and he scoffed at anyone who denied
that. His arguments were astonishingly sharp. None of his premises
required
God.
His research and preparation were impeccable. Not one person in his
audience could get around his logic. Many with religious persuasions
were left helpless by his approach. To those who tried to save him
(that's in the classic biblical sense) and wouldn't back down, he
unceremoniously if not
playfullyserved
up the "F"-word epithet, then smiled warmly and empathetically at
their shock. He gave no quarter. His way was "my way or the highway",
of which he was 1,000% certain. In spite of all that (or
perhaps because of it), they
loved
him and they hated him at the same time. But I'll bet good
money
they didn't know what made theirs a
love
/ hate
relationship
with him. I assert it wasn't because of his scientific
mastery.
That was merely the icing. So what was it then? I'll get to that in a
moment.
The preacher, on the other hand, had it all down to faith and
belief.
He was a humble, gentle man. His arguments were nonetheless
powerful
and well-thought through.
Listening
him was an adventure in itself. His was a delivery which
clearly
had been challenged on many occasions. He was used to having his piety
denied. The way some audience members called him out for his doctrine
(and for his dogma, if the
truth
be told) bordered on insult, which only seemed to bring out the best in
him - as if he took pity on those denying him, and
loved
them even more for it. Like the scientist,
nothing
swayed him. His exposition too, was
brilliant,
a
complete
system in and of itself.
God
did it. Period. That was his rock. But he actually had something very,
very similar to the scientist - although you would never had thought so
if you were only
listening
to what each of them were talking about (in which the one's argument
denied the other's).
The
businessman
wasn't simply the mom and pop corner grocery store type.
His base pay was forty mill (that's in US greenbacks) a
year - and that's before vested shares and stock options.
The
business
he oversaw, while 100% legal and in compliance with all national and
international laws, ran questionably afoul of what's good for
the planet.
And yet he talked about it with a missionary zeal (that was his job),
alarming many of his
listeners
while thrilling his shareholders. No matter what criticism was leveled
at him, he responded in
business
terms, justifying what he did by only referring to his company's bottom
line, and his fiscal duty to do so. If anyone appealed to his
obligation to keep
Planet Earth
green, trying to side-swipe him, he was unflappable. His armor had not
one chink in it. Like him or not, approve of what he did not, he was a
colossus at the dais - not merely in hisworld
but in
the world.
While you may have serious concerns about what he and his
business
were doing, you admired - no, you revered -
the way
he did it (and by that I mean you revered the way he
spoke
it). Just like the scientist and the preacher before him, he could not
be dismissed or dislodged. Not in the slightest.
The intellectual was stunning. Some people are good at what they do.
Others are very good at what they do. This guy was in a
class of his own. Actually "stunning" only under-expresses his skill -
by many degrees and by even many more orders of magnitude. His delivery
was
brilliantly
coherent, scarypowerful,
relaxed, and yet always easily exceeding one hundred miles an hour on
the
conversational
tachometer. He missed
nothing.
To pose a
question
which showed disagreement with his
thesis
(whatever it was he was expounding at the
time)
was simply asking to get steamrolled. People were both
afraid
of him and yet at the same admired him immensely. No, they were in
awe of him. And if it seemed to him he was taking too long
to get his point across because they
resisted
it, he wasn't beyond deflecting any
resistance
from anyone, with a smiling rebuke ending in "... you can kiss my
(rear end)!" even when in the company of the most erudite
groups. He didn't care. His
opinion
was everything to him. And the
power
of it was astonishing. He didn't waver. And, unwavering, his unlined
face
shone. His audience simply had no chance of out-arguing him - at any
level on any subject. Then they fell in
love
with him because of it. Just like the scientist, the preacher, and the
businessman,
he embodied the same quality - which was apparent if you were on the
lookout for it (but just like with the others, you wouldn't find it in
what he talked about).
What the four of them all had in
common
was that which I assert was really the
source
of their
power.
And although it was germane to everything each of them said, did, and
expounded, and to the enormous impact each of them had, all four of
them
spokearound it. None of them addressed it
directly
- in fact, I assert they each took it for granted. You see,
their
power
had
nothing
to do
(nothingwhatsoever) with their scientific acumen, their being
deeply versed in the scriptures, their vast
business
savvy, or their gigantic intelligence (and their total fearlessness to
push its pedal to the metal). That was merely its manifest expression.
That's merely what it looked like when they opened their
mouths
and
spoke
(and blew people away in the process while winning their
love
and admiration at the same time).
Well? What was it that they each had in
common,
then? I'll tell you. It all comes down to this:
But all four of them, if the
truth
be told, were covert about it. The scientist talked science, and was
fullypresent,
yet took his own
presence
for granted and didn't address it
directly.
The preacher talked religion, and was
fullypresent,
yet took his own
presence
for granted and didn't address it
directly.
The
businessman
talked
business,
and was
fullypresent,
yet took his own
presence
for granted and didn't address it
directly.
The intellectual talked whatever he talked and was
fullypresent,
yet took his own
presence
for granted and didn't address it
directly.
We (ie people) do that a lot: we take our own
presence
ie we take
who we really are
for granted, and we don't address it
directly.
If who the scientist really is isn't
present,
there's no science. If who the preacher really is isn't
present,
there's no religion. If who the businessman really is
isn't
present,
there's no
business.
If who the intellectual really is isn't
present,
there are no
marvelous
cerebral gladiatorial contests and battles.
That's what I meant at the
beginning
of this
conversation
when I said each of them had everything, and each of them lived not the
whole nine yards (so to
speak)
but rather about eight yards, two feet, eleven and three-quarter
inches. When you're being
who you really are
(which may be a mere click away from who you're actually being at any
particular moment) ... and ... you addresswho you really are
ie you bring it forth intentionally, that's living the final quarter
inch of a nine yards life.
So. What do you give the men / women who have everything? You give them
that final quarter inch.
And that's not a
joke
either. But it does make a great riddle.