Chapter 27. Community Approval.

This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad. Psalm 118:24.

Chapter 27.

Community Approval.

27.1 Importance for discerning.
Your Highness, hearing the community speak is an important consideration when discerning. Community does not only mean the community at large but also the community around you (your family, your friends, your neighbors, persons you work with and so on).

27.2 Example of a community speaking.
Once, a position became available as a municipal clerk-treasurer for a small municipality with a population of 1,200. I was out of town when this happened. When I returned:

-Florence told me about it.
-My godmother (who also saw the ad) telephoned to tell me about it.
-The tenants upstairs told me about the position and some of my friends called to tell me about it.

All were telling me to apply for the job and all this happened in the space of a couple of days. My problem was that I never worked in a municipal office. Yet when I heard the community speaking so loudly and clearly, I decided to examine the matter further.

I found out who the reeve was, where he worked (he was sales manager with a lumber company) and went to ask him about the job. Unknown to me (I had not seen the ad), the date for receiving applications was closed. We met on a Wednesday afternoon. He invited me to attend the Friday council meeting to meet members of council (none of which I knew).

That Friday evening, after being interviewed by council, I was asked to leave the room while they considered the matter in private. A short while later they called me back and asked me to complete an application; then they hired me on the spot. I began work as clerk-treasurer the following Monday morning. This, in spite of the fact there were 28 other applicants, most of whom were far more qualified than I. All of this took place from Wednesday afternoon to Friday evening.

The municipality was under provincial supervision and was an administrative disaster. In two years, with the help of many wonderful persons who guided me and watched over me, the basic municipal administrative systems were put into place and the situation was normalized.

Two years later, the mayor of a small city of 25,000 invited me to be its administrator.

Later, I was made president of the provincial municipal administrator's association and later still was commissioned to write a report on how the national capital of our country should be governed.

Later, I was hired as a senior advisor for the provincial government on municipal affairs. Later still, I went on my own as a private consultant in municipal management and administration.

This all took place because I took notice when I heard the community speak.
 
27.3 The bottom-line.
When the community speaks, you should listen attentively, for it is in the interest of the community that its members be healthy and strong. Never forget, God speaks through men and events.

September 27, 2008

Any questions? Help needed? Contact Deacon Raymond at: deaconraymond@magma.ca

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