“Working in his vineyard, you will find an answer to that profound question you carry within you: what is the meaning of my life?”
– Pope Leo XIV
When I first heard about Bill, he sounded intimidating. When I first met him, he was. He asked very pointed questions and made straightforward, accurate insights about my work — things that took me years to learn. After that first meeting, there was no question in my mind why he was successful. He was a savvy, no-nonsense driver and a results-oriented hard baller who kept people on their toes.
One day, he invited me to visit his office where I saw a question displayed in a frame. “What good shall I do this day?” I got to meet his lovely wife, Jody, and their equally successful sons. The more time I spent with them, I noticed that the question I saw hanging in Bill’s office was displayed in their home and on a mural across the street from their business. I haven’t seen a mug with this question on it, but I’m going to guess Bill has a few of them somewhere.
Ten years later — and too many more meetings to count — there’s no question why Bill and his clan are successful. It’s not because Bill’s tough, which he is, or even because they are smart, though that’s true too. It’s because they live by a question. Whether it’s in the countless business relationships they maintain, the plethora of charities they support, or most importantly, with each other as family, every day they are asking one question of themselves and of the Lord, “What good shall I do this day?”
As I left my most recent encounter with them, I had to ask myself: in life, leadership, and discipleship, what one question drives how I answer each day? Is it simply a slogan or is it truly a roadmap for fulfilling my God-given purpose? How many days do I feel like a pinball, bouncing around between demands and tasks and highs and lows and wondering when I put my head down on the pillow - what did I do all day? Maybe if I began the day asking the Lord a question like Bill’s, I’d have a better metric of success at the end of the day, a peace the world can’t give.
As we begin this new week, let’s reflect on the one question God wants us to ask and how He’s calling us to answer through the witness of our lives.
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