This week, on November 22, President John F. Kennedy was very publicly and brutally assassinated in 1963 in an open convertible while waving to the crowds with his wife by his side.
I remember my mom, who was a hard-core Republican (for you youngsters, Kennedy was a Democrat), openly weeping as the news blared out on black-and-white televisions everywhere. It was devastating to the country—it had been over sixty years since the last presidential assassination, whereas starting with Lincoln, a sitting president had been murdered nearly every twenty years.
The event overshadowed everything. But oddly enough, on that very same day in 1963, two other deaths occurred.
British author and philosopher Aldous Huxley is best remembered as the author of Brave New World, an oddly frightening dystopian novel. Later in life, he explored Eastern mysticism—he enjoyed a friendship with Krishnamurti, whom I briefly wrote about here. It was during this time that Huxley discovered mescaline and wrote about its spiritually mind-expanding properties in Doors To Perception (for you Boomers, this is where Jim Morrison and the Doors got their name). Moments before dying of cancer, he asked for and received an injection of lysergic acid diethylamide, otherwise known as LSD.
Irish-born C.S. Lewis was an avowed atheist, teaching English literature at Magdalen College in Oxford, when he stumbled headlong into Christianity in his early 30’s due to some key influential friendships, such as J.R.R. Tolkien and Hugo Dyson. He went on to write both fiction—mostly fantasy and science fiction—and non-fiction, his apologetical work. In his mid-sixties, he suffered a heart attack, recovered unexpectedly from a coma, but died of kidney failure only a few months later.
Huxley was an interesting writer, but Lewis saved my life. I had become a follower of Jesus when a struggle between my heart and head threatened my faith until I came across a little book called The Great Divorce. After that, I read every single thing he wrote. He, in turn, introduced me to George MacDonald, for whom I will be forever grateful.
I found it sad that Lewis’ death—this great defender of Christianity—was overshadowed, though rightfully so: Kennedy’s assassination was a stunning reminder of this present evil. Lewis’ obituary was buried and forgotten that day in the back pages of newspapers and magazines. My literary mentor deserved more, but such is the timing of life with its lack of guarantees.
Leaders, the chances are pretty good: it’s a given that any leadership legacy we have will quickly be forgotten by those outside of family. While we hope to have impact and positive influence while we’re sucking air—and even that is a leadership challenge—there is one thing we need to remind ourselves regularly: we are loved and known by a Perfect Father. It is in that knowledge that life and leadership have any real meaning. Or as Paul put it:
“…ignored by the world, but recognized by God” 2 CORINTHIANS 6:9a
You are not forgotten, my friend. Keep leading, regardless of now-and/or-future obscurity, with the knowledge that you are deeply known.
Dave Workman | The Elemental Group
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