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A hush sweeps across the people as they watch him rise to stand alone before them. Though he spends the majority of his time leading a team, today he must do this thing without them. They too wait with the others, looking to him for what only he can give.
Then he begins. Like a train building up momentum to climb a steep grade he starts slowly, softly. With each passing moment, it becomes ever more obvious this is his medium. His place. The longer he stands before them the more those in the audience feel comfortable to climb aboard his train and ride with him. And together, they become one.
The one standing before them is not naïve. He knows that when this journey ends he will have his critics. Few of these are vocal; casting their vote against him in more subtle ways. Folded arms and strained smiles are their trademarks. For days, they will find quiet and not so quiet ways to call him into question. Then the next time he stands, they will once more sit before him appearing for all the world like his fondest admirers.
Were does such a man come from? He comes from the cities. From the bowels of the fortresses of commerce, faceless crowds, and ceaseless activity, he emerges with a passion for them. His heart beats in synch with a million others. All different from him. All so like him. A hundred times he has had opportunity find a quieter, safer place to stand. Instead, he has chosen to stand here, with them.
Where does such a man come from? He comes from the far reaches of rural life. It is place where none would think to ask him to leave. Yet, he went to be trained for this task. And there he discovered a world he never knew existed, a world with far more opportunity and promise. He could have easily abandoned them for a more a broader venue yet he did not. Instead, he has chose to return and stand with them.
Who is this man standing alone before these people today? He is a farmer, a physician, a teacher and a lawyer. He is a scholar, a thinker, a helper and a healer. He has been given the best education known to man. And, he has struggled to learn enough of the basics to feed his family as he fulfills his destiny.
Why does this man stand here alone as so many look to him and wait? It because of those who have stood before him. Multiple generations of men who stood in this same place. He stands there because of those who sit before him: the eager and the uncaring, the rich and the poor, the educated and the illiterate, the young and the old. All bound together by the moment this man stands before them. United for a moment in time by the common belief he has something of value to offer, as he stands there alone.
Why does this man stand here alone as so many look to him and wait? He does so because of the one who called him here. The invisible one that whispers in his ear and massages his heart. His greatest critic. His greatest supporter. The one who works this mystery of speaker and listener.
Now the train is moving at full speed. Engineer and passengers all pulled toward the same destination. Though he was sure of so much when he first stood the man now joins his audience in growing anticipation of where the Conductor will take them all. Guiding and yet being guided. Speaking and yet being spoken to. Leading and yet being led.
At last this one who has chosen, no, been chosen, to stand alone reaches the end. He and those before him breathe a collective thanks. Changed, if only a little bit by the experience. All a little more aware of what they must do. What they must be. Reflecting together on where they have come from and where they have been brought to.
Now the one who stood alone can sit. At least until the next time when he comes to this place. This place where he will stand alone at the pulpit.
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