A little story I found about how to be great:
A popular fable known as "The Last Wish of Horville Sash” (original author unknown) offers a good conclusion to our study of servant leadership.
Abbott Self had a very humble job, working for a wealthy merchant. He worked as a servant in the cellars and doing what he could do to help other people with their jobs. Often he wondered what went on the floor just above his, but he did not dwell on it too long.
Then came a day when Abbott found a frog hopping across the floor. As a servant, Abbott had only frogs to command. He raised his foot to flatten the little frog when it spoke: "Please don’t kill me," it said. "If you let me live, I’ll give you three wishes."
Abbott figured that even if he didn’t get the wishes, a talking frog could make him a lot of money. So he let the frog live, and the frog asked him what he wanted for his first wish. "To be promoted to a second floor servant," said Abbott. The next day Abbott’s overseer came in and told him he would move up to the second floor that very day.
Abbott walked into the second floor like a conquering general, but soon he heard footsteps on the floor above him. He said to the frog, my second wish is to be promoted floor by floor until I reach the very top; until I am in charge of the house itself.
"Done," said the frog, and floor by floor he moved his way up: 3rd floor, 4th floor, 5th floor, 6th floor, and finally to the very top floor. He was as high as he could go. The head man over all the other servants of the great house.
Then one day he heard footsteps above him. He saw a sign that said: STAIRS. He went up and found a rooftop and there he found one of his servants near the edge of the building with his eyes closed. "What are you doing?" Abbott asked. "Praying," came the answer. "To whom?" Pointing a finger toward the sky the boy answered, "God."
Panic gripped Abbott Self. There was a floor above him? He couldn’t see it. All he saw was clouds. He couldn’t hear the shuffling of feet. "Do you mean there is yet another authority over me?"
Abbott summoned the wish granting frog once again. It was time for his third and final wish. "Make me the highest human authority. Put me in the kind of position only the greatest of men would hold here on earth."
The very next day Abbott Self awakened to find himself in the basement, doing servant chores, and doing what he could to help others be the best that they could possibly be.
That’s how Abbott Self learned what Jesus taught, “Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant.”
(With apologies to “The Last Wish of Horville Sash”)
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