This is a phrase that’s been part of my conversations for a number of years. I’ve been blessed to have known a number of “great” people classed so according to my defintion of greatness; one singular individual from my personal coterie has been classified as “great and influential” by secular pollsters but the others have passed through this life in relative obscurity.

If you gaze at this picture to the right you’ll notice the man in the light shirt. We met last October while I was touring this elementary school located in a remote village in one of the lesser-known states of India. I do not know his name, a fact I regret admitting to you, but I do know part of his story.

Raised in an affluent family in the state of Kerala which boasts a literacy rate of 98% his privileges included a university education. Yet, he turned his back on lucrative job offers after graduation and chose instead to leave his prosperity and serve the poor children in a distant South India state.

If you look closely you’ll notice his smile. Joy imbues his service and dozens of children are the beneficiaries. In my book this example of sacrificial giving of oneself defines “greatness”.  

Sarah A. Smith