Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: Start (01/16/06)
-
TITLE: Whatever Became of Camelot | Previous Challenge Entry
By Birdie Courtright
01/21/06 -
LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
SEND A PRIVATE COMMENT
ADD TO MY FAVORITES
Today was a new start, a long awaited beginning. I could sleep in, I mused, or I could jump straight up and get busy on all the projects that had been nagging at the back of my brain for months now. Neither sounded like the appropriate way to celebrate my new found freedom from corporate America. Yesterday had been a day of emotional good-byes, leaving behind co-workers who had become family to me after so many years.
I knew that my decision to leave the company would affect everyone who worked under me. It had been a long and painful decision and I procrastinated making my final decision as long as I possibly could. I felt responsible for all of them and their families. My decision would place them in harms way, leave them vulnerable to the acidity that had crept in, destroying everything in its path. Eden had fallen.
There was this little thing gnawing away at me continually. It slapped me in the face with nearly every corporate email and memo. It was a foreign concept to most of business America, but something this company had instilled in me in delicious ways from the moment I joined ranks with them. It was all about values, ethics: ‘Doing the right thing’. Suddenly it was sorely lacking.
For over a decade, the leaders of the company had time and again demonstrated valor against the odds. They were men of vision, blessed men, Leaders in every sense of the word. They were men of passion, men of their word. Then the world changed. The promised-land had been invaded. Inspirational advice from the two kings that had created corporate paradise turned from ‘greatness is a daily walk’ to ‘tenure is not an entitlement’.
A book with a bright red cover that advocated the necessity of pushing past personal values in order to achieve greatness in corporate growth and longevity was shoved into our hands and mandated as required reading for all managers.
The red flags were everywhere, and the good began to fall beneath the unscrupulous swords of those who were determined to become great. Bells were ringing, even in my sleep. Whatever had become of Camelot?
I lay nestled in my pillow, warmly blanketed in the comfort of peace, reflecting on my last conversations with the men had I had come to admire for their God-seeded wisdom, their agility in battle, always conquering with their goodness. My last conversations with them individually had left me unsure of where they stood. Their former countenance; confidence and vitality had been replaced by resolute emptiness. They looked worn, albeit, these were men who were determined to be great. The warmth and sincerity was gone, they were busy men now. They had just completed a multimillion dollar merger; the company would become great; greatness would become their legacy. I remembered taking note of the cost.
As I snuggled ever deeper into the safety of my down nest, I prayed for them; the great men. I prayed for the good people who had already fallen in the wake of their chosen path and those who were yet to fall. I had abstained from the battle between good and great. I chose to lay down my sword and retreat. Goodness requires no defense.
The snooze button lifted its placid reprieve for one last time. I arose knowing that men fall, but goodness never does. Goodness stands, gentle and unwavering in the face of eternity. Goodness is not deciduous by nature. It does not mystically or intentionally morph to greatness. It has no need. It is brilliant in its simplicity. It requires no formulas for growth, no overt chivalry, seeks no battles, spies out no conquests. It is. It simply and beautifully and secretly, is. And in all that, its paths are peacefully opened to those who seek. Upon those paths, are found every desire of men’s hearts.
I stepped from the warmth of my down blankets, knowing that Camelot lives. Perhaps no longer, in the hearts of the men I have admired, but in me. I will start my day on a new path, in familiar territory. I will remain on the good paths, praying for those who seek the greater paths…noting their cost.
The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.
If you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would go to heaven? You can be right now. CLICK HERE
JOIN US at FaithWriters for Free. Grow as a Writer and Spread the Gospel.
