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EXCELLENCE

Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. Daniel 6:3

Horace Mann was one of America’s greatest educators. A lawyer, not a teacher, he entered politics in 1837 and became president of the Massachusetts State Senate. A visionary, he saw great possibilities for developing a public education system for the nation. He urged improvements in teaching wherever he had an opportunity to speak. His pleas resulted in Massachusetts creating the nation’s first State Board of Education, as an ‘experiment’. When the Board’s leadership position was offered to him, his friends who believed his political career might culminate in the U.S. Presidency, urged him to decline. But Mann accepted. His comment to his disappointed friends became a classic: ‘If the title is not sufficiently honorable, then clearly it is left to me to elevate it!’ Not only did the job have little prestige, the $1,500 annual salary was only a fraction of what he’d have earned as a lawyer. Concerning this he said, ‘One thing is certain - if I live and have good health, I’ll do more than $1,500 worth of good.’ He did. From his position, he gave Massachusetts a school system that many other states adopted, blessing millions of children for years to come. Listen: Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because [the spirit of excellence] was in him. (Daniel 6:3). Your title doesn’t determine your potential - your spirit does! Whether you run the company or work as the caretaker, lecture in a classroom or care for a family at home, there are no small jobs - only people who perceive them as small, and become small in doing them.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, Help me to do my best at whatever it is that you have placed or called me to so that I can serve others and bring glory to your Holy Name. Amen