A true friend can ask deep, relevant questions and persist even if you deflect or offer trivial answers. I have often discussed the people I admire with a trusted friend who has proven his concern for many people, including me. He persistently asks this challenging question. “Who ELSE do you admire?”
A worthwhile answer required more thought, emotion, and time than was convenient. My inclination was to name almost superheroes, world-class, astounding folks. But those were easy answers. They wouldn’t help me think deeply. They wouldn’t help me challenge you to consider your own answer to the question.
A Person I Admire
I genuinely admire Sister Helen Prejean, featured in the 1995 movie Dead Man Walking, based on her best-selling book. Susan Sarandon won an Academy Award for her portrayal of the nun. This movie is worth seeing.
There’s no spoiler information in this post. I want to share a story that is heroic to me, my courage, and my heart.
The movie’s male lead is a single man from a disadvantaged household, played by Sean Penn. He was convicted of the rape and murder of an almost-too-good-to-be-true young woman and the murder of her almost-too-good-to-be-true boyfriend.
No one is surprised that the convicted killer denies guilt. His bigger, maybe meaner, co-defendant was acquitted. Some locals believe the co-defendant had a better lawyer. That’s all part of the plot, but it’s irrelevant to the relationship between the nun and the convicted murderer.
Her assignment was to be spiritual help to the criminal. Sister Helen had never visited a prison before and certainly not tried to help a death-row criminal.
Sister Helen is questioned on many levels, by many people. She is accused of being dim, wasting her time and the church’s money, neglecting easier or more needed services for more worthy people. Parents of the deceased assume she lacks wisdom, discretion, and or concern about the victims and their families. All the accusations seem far different than what the audience discovers about her.
I admire Sister Helen for her priorities, her identity as a Bride of Christ, and her service to Mother Church. She accepted a seemingly unreasonable assignment against almost impossible odds. She believes that eternity is real and that mortals can make a difference despite grievous sins.
It seems she believes that faithfulness matters more to God than success. Therefore, she attempted extremely hard tasks, often without what many would have hoped or expected to be minimal training or supervision. She is falsely accused of several things based on others’ faulty assumptions or misunderstandings. She apologizes for the emotional harm that was felt but not intended. She declines to defend her reputation, to confront her accusers about their errors, or to fuss about what she wasn’t taught. These beliefs were a minority view and still are.
She made rookie errors, accidentally harming the victims’ parents. She recognized, acknowledged their pain, and apologized. Then, she attempted differently, more thoughtfully, based on what she heard to show love. Gently yet clearly, she explained to the convicted man why the victims’ parents responded to him as they did.
Sister Prejean seemed to find love and grace that she may not have known Christ could provide. She didn’t preach. Her words were true, not judgmental, and said in love. She courageously confronted when it might help the prisoner. Her compassion was evident.
Her focus seemed to be on the convicted man’s soul. She sought to respect and console the grievers and to invite or nudge the convict toward acceptance of his actions. She didn’t badger or attempt to guilt him into repentance. She served faithfully despite the cost.
In summary, I admire her integrity. Sister Helen’s willingness to serve and sacrifice for another’s potential benefit showed courage and faith, which inspired me.
Your spiritual perspective may be different from Sister Helen’s or mine, but she sacrificed in service to what she believed to be a more significant purpose. That’s why I admire her.
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So, who do you admire? And what about their thoughts, words, or deeds are worth imitating?
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Terry Moore, CCIM, is the author of Building Legacy Wealth: How to Build Wealth and Live a Life Worth Imitating. Read his “Welcome to My Blog.”