Admiration

Admiration

Delivered By: Lloyd D. Newell

Who are the people you most admire, and why? Some admire those who have acquired worldly success, wealth, athletic prowess, prestige, or celebrity. Others look up to those who made a difference in the world or in someone’s life, those who have inspired others to be their best or carry on despite hardship and disappointment. Either way, we all—whether we realize it or not—admire someone. So consider for a moment, what makes a person worthy of your admiration? Almost daily, popular figures emerge on the world’s stage, attract attention for a moment, and then, almost as quickly as they appeared, fade into distant memory. But fame is not admiration; prominence is not a measure of respect. True admiration lasts longer; it’s not fleeting and is never forgotten. Noted rabbi Abraham Heschel once said: “When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.”1 Very often, the clever get attention, while the kind, the compassionate, the good-hearted are sometimes set aside, forgotten in our rush for the flashy. But the years have a way of putting popularity and prestige in perspective. Acclaim and accomplishments tend to fade over time, but kindness endures. In the end, we reserve our deepest admiration for those who treated others with love, because it’s love that binds hearts together. Meanwhile, celebrities come and go, flashing across the sky like an occasional comet; but true heroes are as consistent as the rising sun and as timeless as the sparkling stars. And while kind people may not get the headlines or show up on the evening news, they are the people we remember with fondness, even long after they’re gone. They are the people who deserve our admiration. 1 In Harold S. Kushner, When All You’ve Ever Wanted Isn’t Enough: The Search for a Life That Matters (2002), 58.