Three days ago, a former student, Melody Amor (now a medical coordinator at First Western Hospital in Thailand), sent me a private message on Facebook Messenger: I’m from the batch called Soaring Doves. Do you remember the time before graduation when you let us pick a marble and to keep it? Then you told us you will tell us the meaning later. But we never got the chance to see you again as we got busy completing our cases. I have kept my marble with me to this day. Now I’m curious as to what’s with the marble and why we had to keep it.
I remember a few years ago in my Leadership & Management in Nursing class , I actually distributed marbles to the graduating seniors, and told them to keep it.
So what’s with the marble and why keep it? John Thompson wrote an article Losing Marbles Frowned Upon in the Johnson City Press in Tennessee, USA. to break the greed barrier in business. He used the phrase “Don’t lose your marbles” as a catchy way of sharing innovative customer service; and “losing your marbles” as a way of going crazy.
He added that “hanging on to your marble” is a completely different concept that has impacted an international corporation. Jesse Shwayder, founder of the Shwayder Trunk Manufacturing Co. in 1910 in Colorado, believed that the best way to do business was to treat others the way you would like to be treated, a philosophy known as the Golden Rule.
Jesus Christ admonished his followers in Matthew 7:12: So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
At Shwayder Trunk, a tradition is giving a marble with a golden band imprinted with Matthew 7:12. If the person loses his marble, he is expected to purchase a dozen, keep one, and distribute the rest to other people while telling the important story. “We have found for practical, as well as moral reasons that the Golden Rule is the finest program we could adopt. The Golden Rule has more power than the atomic bomb. With its help, men still can work wonders. If the Golden Rule were adopted by nations of the world, people would live differently. Wars would not happen because peace on earth would replace the power struggle of ego-driven dictators. Business profits would soar because customers would know that somewhere, someone was watching out for their best interests.”
Live out the Golden Rule to find success. The Shwayder Trunk Manufacturing Co., now popularly known as the luggage manufacturer Samsonite, has withstood the test of time.
When people reach out lovingly to help each other, they are modeling the unselfish love of Jesus Christ, a servant-leader. Matthew 20:26 sums it all up beautifully: Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant.
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