The Servant Leader

 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. ²⁶ Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, ²⁷ and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— ²⁸ just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:25-28

"I may not agree with what you say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it." That quote has been on my mind this whole week as I watch things happen that seem to violate the right to freedom of speech. It was a quote that I grew up thinking was authored by my maternal grandfather, Albert E. Salmons. My mother greatly revered her father, was always quoting something he said, and that quote, originally by Voltaire, was the one she referred to the most. Some other sayings that she attributed to him included: "To avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing and be nothing",  "If you're looking for friends without any faults, you won't have any friends", and "The pendulum will swing one way and then it will swing back." 

If it hadn't been for Mom's accounts, I would have only known Poppop Salmons as a jolly, fun-loving grandfather with a distinct laugh, "Uh, Uh, Uh!" I remember him taking my cousin PJ and I, when we were about four, on a walk down some type of a long, grassy mountain to see "the water". Part of the way down, we came upon a place where there was a clearing in which there was a huge slide - bigger than I had ever seen. I remember running toward that slide with Poppop laughing, "Uh, Uh, Uh!" I don't think we ever got to "the water".  When I was seven, he took me over to the five and dime in Mansfield to get each of us a three dip ice cream cone. I could only make it through one and one half dips before I had my fill. 

However, Poppop was more than a jolly grandfather. He was a supervisor, a writer, a philosopher and a very wise and principled man. He wrote articles for some type of magazine or column. They were about leadership. Mom said that his articles talked about how important it is for managers to treat their workers well, to respect and value them. He practiced what he preached on the job. Mom said that he used to take all their wet boots and put them by the fireplace to dry. He was the kind of leader that Jesus described in the gospels - a servant leader. I don't think it is just a coincidence that I would be thinking about him on the day that we recall the washing of the disciples feet.