COLLEGE PARK, MD –
The objective of a believer, in large part, is to be prepared for tomorrow. The highest example of this is the tomorrow of the afterlife.
This mentality also has a great worldy benefit. It is the essence of leadership. Leadership is the cornerstone of a healthy society.
Leaders
Let’s step back for a moment and reflect on what a leader is.
A leader is one who serves his or her followers. Through the service of a leader, his or her followers’ lives are enriched and they are educated in how to be a leader for others.
Ideally, this process continues through the generations so that everyone has a leader they follow and is a leader who is followed. It is clear when one should lead and when one should follow.
This clarity provides stability within society. Stability provides the environment in which brilliance shines and people can live their best lives.
Again, this comes about through the service of leaders. Their service is a lofty form of giving.
Leaders are those who have undergone the proper rites of passage and come out as givers whom society can rely on.
Tomorrow
Let’s get back on the topic of preparation.
One of the keys to leadership is understanding what to prepare for – defining the tomorrow we are working towards.
When we are able to define that, we can reliably achieve success, God willing.
If we are speaking about salvation, we must understand the afterlife as our tomorrow and use today to prepare for it.
We can’t sit idly by and use today as nothing more than today. We must see today as an opportunity to prepare and make use of it.
Many of us understand this concept in wordly pursuits. We define our goals and use each day as a means to work towards them.
Inculcating this attitude in our other-wordly pursuits is essential to proper behavior, leadership, and the stability that flows from them.
Getting both
Although the concept of preparation can be applied to both worlds, stability is a byproduct of other-worldy preparation alone.
Stability, in this life and the next, can only be achieved by preparation for the afterlife.
Preparing for eternity encompasses the temporal world. Preparing for the temporal world does not encompass eternity.
Preparing for this world will give you just that – this world.
Preparing for the next world will give you both.
Next week we’ll delve into effective preparation and its opposite, God willing.
Stay tuned!
In preparation,
Tarif