Author, The Happiest Man in the World: Life Lessons from a Cultural Economist
One of the universal principles of stewardship is that I can hold on too tightly and lose everything, but it is possible to give away and become richer. The spirit of selfishness and hoarding trumps wisdom and blocks me from the subtle insights as to what and when I should let go. The tighter I grasp on to something, the more I squeeze it right through my fingers and it is gone. This principle is equally true for corporations, institutions, and individuals. Stewardship and benevolence just make good sense and good business.
By watering other people, and reaching out to meet their needs, we actually water ourselves. What we hoard we lose; what we give away and plant in the lives of others returns to us in multiplied measure. And in the final analysis, all that is not given away is lost. Project C.U.R.E. is one of the best examples of how this principle works out every day in the real world.
In the business model and operations of Project C.U.R.E., we are dependent upon donations from other people and institutions. The thousands of lives that are saved through the efforts of Project C.U.R.E. are a direct result of the benevolence of others. We go directly to medical manufacturers, medical wholesale businesses and end users of medical goods, and work with them. In a joint effort we collect, process, inventory, warehouse, and distribute those medical supplies and pieces of medical equipment to needy hospitals and medical clinics around the world. We openly explain the benefits to them and their businesses by our working together. Then we ask them directly to donate to us from their inventories. They believe in us and the cause we represent, and for the past twenty-five years they have generously given to us.
The medical industry is very special and unique in that it deals with extremely time-sensitive inventories. The majority of items we receive are marked with an expiration date. When we receive the donated inventories, we do not have the option or latitude to take our jolly-good time to process and deliver the goods to the needy international recipients. We are always under the time gun, and we must be good stewards of what we are given in order to maximize the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of people.
It would be absolutely and criminally ridiculous for us to receive those donated inventories, put them on our warehouse racks, and say, “Oh, look at us and see how very wealthy we are with all the millions of dollars of goods we have in our warehouses.” Those goods were given to us to distribute to those with imperative need. We accept the responsibility of being trustworthy stewards. If we hoard the things that were given to us, and we simply sit on those valuable gifts, and they go right past the expiration dates for usefulness, we have then breeched our fiduciary responsibilities, and we are accountable.
It is not a whole lot different with the valuable inventories of our personal lives that we have so generously received. And, like the time-sensitive medical inventories in Project C.U.R.E.’s warehouses, our personal talents and possessions are likewise time sensitive. All of our clocks are ticking—just in case you hadn’t noticed. Your personal inventories are overflowing, even if you don’t feel so wealthy today.
What I hoard I lose. All that is not given away is lost. What I grasp too tightly, I squeeze right through my fingers and it is gone. But what I give away and plant in the lives of others returns to me in multiplied measure. As much as Project C.U.R.E. gives away each year, every time I walk through our warehouses there is more there than before. By watering other people and reaching out to meet their needs we actually water ourselves. We can hold on too tightly and lose everything, but it is possible to give away and become richer: richer in relationships; richer in quality of life; richer in personal expression, experience, and maturity; richer in wisdom; richer in more than money, but in true wealth, in the things that matter most in this life.
Author, Oswald Chambers reminds us:
Whenever you get a blessing from God, give it back to Him as a love gift. Take time to meditate before God and offer the blessing back to Him in a deliberate act of worship. If you hoard a thing for yourself, it will turn into spiritual dry rot, as the manna did when it was hoarded. God will never let you hold a spiritual thing for yourself, it has to be given back to Him that He may make it a blessing to others.
Dr. James W. Jackson often describes himself as "The Happiest Man in the World." A successful businessman, award-winning author and humanitarian, Jackson is also a renowned Cultural Economist and international consultant, helping organizations and governments to apply sound economic principals to the transformation of culture so that everyone is "better off."As the founder of Project C.U.R.E., Dr. Jackson traveled to more than one hundred fifty countries assessing healthcare facilities, meeting with government leaders and "delivering health and hope" in the form of medical supplies and equipment to the world's most needy people. Literally thousands of people are alive today as a direct result of the tireless efforts of Project C.U.R.E.'s staff, volunteers and Dr. Jackson.
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