My humble purpose

This morning, as I sat at my desk making final changes to this week’s Chanticleer, the stresses of my work and my life seemed smaller somehow. For as my own brow furrowed with concern over whether to capitalize this or that and whether to place this comma here or there, a gentleman sat quietly in my office, while all the while he ran the largest news organization in the world.

Arthur Sulzberger Jr. is the chairman and publisher of The New York Times Company, and for one day, Mr. Sulzberger descended upon Jacksonville State University as this year’s Ayers Lecturer. But before he took to the podium, he sat in my office for a couple of hours.

So, I went on with tackling the issues of my life — such as which reporters I should send to which lecture or blood drive (riveting, I know) — while he sat reading his newspaper. His newspaper.

I felt small, yes. Insignificant, yes. But would I trade places with this man? No, never.

By no means does my life boast as large a footprint as Mr. Sulzberger or others, but at the same time, it is a life I have been given by the grace of God, and it is a life that I am determined to live with vitality.

To some, my ambitions for my future seem small. And they’re right. This small town girl has no desire to make a city like New York City, Washington, D.C., or heck, even Atlanta my home. My ambitions are less career-based — though I do love the work I am doing now and hope to continue bettering myself in my field for a long, long time. My ambition, in a nutshell, is to love and befriend people. Period.

And whether or not that ambition leads me to an impressive position with an impressive organization like The New York Times (emphasis on the not), I am satisfied — satisfied with the life God has carved out for me. I believe in my God, the God who has saved me from myself and the ways of the world, and I believe in the purpose He has set in my heart.

I hope Mr. Sulzberger can say the same.