Sunday Best
This week’s “Sunday Best” award goes to… Will Smith.
No, not that Will Smith.
This weekend, the Capitol community laid to rest one of its finest : Chief of Staff Will Smith.
Will was the kind of guy who would give you the shirt off his back – even though you probably should have been lending him yours. As Chief of Staff for one of the leading Legislators in California, Will always took time out of his busy schedule to help people with whatever they asked for – in my case, the State Capitol Permits for the historic Tea Parties of 2009 and urgent Press Conferences on California’s State Budget.
My favorite memory of Will’s gracious spirit occurred when I was holding a Press Conference on the Capitol steps to protest Tax increases. The group I was with wanted to use a special prop for the Press Conference and, as Mother Nature would have it, we found ourselves caught in gale force winds that day. In the hour leading up to the Press Conference, the prop kept blowing over. And over. And over. No matter how many times we set it upright, it would blow over again. Worried, I searched everywhere for something that would hold down the prop. Sandbags. Weights. Something. But I was out of time. We would have to take our chances.
Just as the Press Conference began, the wind began to pick up again. But somehow, the prop wasn’t falling over as it had before. How could this be? Wondering if someone had heard my cry for heavy sandbags, I quietly walked behind the staging area so I could get a glimpse. And there stood Will and his staff, grinning, and holding onto the prop for dear life so it wouldn’t blow away. That was Will's way.
But Will wasn’t just a “nice guy.” He was respected in the Capitol. And he used his power artfully. I once got into a debate with him about something in the Capitol. As it happens with many debates in the Capitol, I can’t even remember the topic now. But at the end of our heated discussion, Will said two words that diffused the debate and brought the discussion to a diplomatic halt. He said, “Fair enough.” Fair enough? Wow. There was something about it that was so… so... Will. In just two words, he was able to completely disagree, yet communicate that he wasn’t about to ruin a working relationship (even with little 'ole me) over the subject matter. Fair enough. It is a phrase I found so powerful, that I have begun to use it over the past year to diffuse tense political situations.
I fully realize my memories of Will pale in comparison to the depth and length of the memories that his close friends and family share. Nevertheless, this week I found myself wallowing in worldly pity that "one of the good guys" was taken too soon. But, listening to the events of the night of his death, the calm that now surrounds his family, and the indelible impression he made on so many in the State Capitol, it is clear now that Will’s life played out precisely how God intended. Maybe God needed Will to resolve a political dispute in Heaven. Maybe God needed another angel in Haiti this week. Maybe He just needed another player on that big Basketball team in the sky. True, it is sad for us who have been left behind, but God apparently needed Will more than we did.
Fair enough.
No, not that Will Smith.
This weekend, the Capitol community laid to rest one of its finest : Chief of Staff Will Smith.
Will was the kind of guy who would give you the shirt off his back – even though you probably should have been lending him yours. As Chief of Staff for one of the leading Legislators in California, Will always took time out of his busy schedule to help people with whatever they asked for – in my case, the State Capitol Permits for the historic Tea Parties of 2009 and urgent Press Conferences on California’s State Budget.
My favorite memory of Will’s gracious spirit occurred when I was holding a Press Conference on the Capitol steps to protest Tax increases. The group I was with wanted to use a special prop for the Press Conference and, as Mother Nature would have it, we found ourselves caught in gale force winds that day. In the hour leading up to the Press Conference, the prop kept blowing over. And over. And over. No matter how many times we set it upright, it would blow over again. Worried, I searched everywhere for something that would hold down the prop. Sandbags. Weights. Something. But I was out of time. We would have to take our chances.
Just as the Press Conference began, the wind began to pick up again. But somehow, the prop wasn’t falling over as it had before. How could this be? Wondering if someone had heard my cry for heavy sandbags, I quietly walked behind the staging area so I could get a glimpse. And there stood Will and his staff, grinning, and holding onto the prop for dear life so it wouldn’t blow away. That was Will's way.
But Will wasn’t just a “nice guy.” He was respected in the Capitol. And he used his power artfully. I once got into a debate with him about something in the Capitol. As it happens with many debates in the Capitol, I can’t even remember the topic now. But at the end of our heated discussion, Will said two words that diffused the debate and brought the discussion to a diplomatic halt. He said, “Fair enough.” Fair enough? Wow. There was something about it that was so… so... Will. In just two words, he was able to completely disagree, yet communicate that he wasn’t about to ruin a working relationship (even with little 'ole me) over the subject matter. Fair enough. It is a phrase I found so powerful, that I have begun to use it over the past year to diffuse tense political situations.
I fully realize my memories of Will pale in comparison to the depth and length of the memories that his close friends and family share. Nevertheless, this week I found myself wallowing in worldly pity that "one of the good guys" was taken too soon. But, listening to the events of the night of his death, the calm that now surrounds his family, and the indelible impression he made on so many in the State Capitol, it is clear now that Will’s life played out precisely how God intended. Maybe God needed Will to resolve a political dispute in Heaven. Maybe God needed another angel in Haiti this week. Maybe He just needed another player on that big Basketball team in the sky. True, it is sad for us who have been left behind, but God apparently needed Will more than we did.
Fair enough.
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