Open, without hidden corners
IF love means submission, naturalness, and the spirit of enterprise, it also means that there should be nothing that should stand between us and the persons as well as the people we love. No barriers, only open flows; no hidden corners, only open communication; no dark clouds over the relationship, only transparency under the bright, blue skies!
Openness in pursuit of our vision and in making progress towards the strategic priorities by which our vision is realized demands this of us: simplicity. Our “yes” means only “yes”; and our “no” is really “no”. We are what people see in us, or what they hear from us. It is true that due to the weakness of our character, we are prone to prevaricate, hold mental reservation, put up a false front, and even lie; but we acknowledge that this is a weakness, and we constantly fight against it.
As we mature and gain more experience, we soon realize that in our relationship with others, we need to take a positive attitude. We need not say out everything that is in our mind: we praise, when we can; we remain silent, when we cannot. We also encourage, and point to the half- full glass; with great delicacy and refinement, we give suggestions and make corrections, each time duty demands that we point to the half- empty glass. We accompany others in their travails and sorrows; and we travel with them on their journey towards achievement and personal happiness. We may have to get plenty of practice in the use of polite and diplomatic language, as we put a positive spin to the things we need to say and bring out.
Our simplicity, which extends to our life style and the proper sobriety we observe in how we live and work, leads us to:
• Be sincere with God. We confess our sins; we acknowledge our faults and weaknesses; we share with Him our resolve and desire to keep fighting in order to become better. We let him fully into our life and work: we let him be aware of our problems and concerns; we let him know of our dreams and aspirations. We try to be so intimate with Him that nothing is made to stand between Him and us. Prayer becomes the open channel of communication: its openness is total and absolute.
• Be sincere with the people around us. No day is allowed to pass without ironing any kinks that may have developed in our relationship with them in the course of the day. We are quick to ask for pardon; our “I am sorry” should be as quick and instantaneous as the blood that flows out of any wound once it is inflicted; our “thank you” is profuse, genuine, and frequent ( as often as we receive any favour from anyone). Moreover, we are more than willing to allow others— who have the right to know us more— to be fully acquainted with our doubts and certainties, with our disappointments and reasons for exhilaration; with our fear of failure and our confidence of success, etc. In other words, we are an open book to those with whom we have closer personal bonds within our proper station in life: we let them know what they need to know, without us holding anything back.
• Be sincere with the community we are committed to serve. We show no reticence in giving information about our core values, our mission, and— for any vision period— our vision. We also provide broad- strokes information about our transformation road map together with the strategic priorities we are pursuing in pursuit of that road map. We report on the assessment of our performance, and this reporting is done on a regular ( periodic) basis. We give due notice of our advocacy for the common good as well as of our initiatives— borne out of a deep sense of social responsibility— for the common good of the community. We also share information on our involvement— in solidarity with others— to improve the economic, social, and political environment of the community.
Our openness is never about earning brownie points or scoring high in popularity and “good perception” ratings. Rather, it is about our good intentions and about our struggles in giving “flesh and blood” to them. It is of course about progress we make; but it is never about fully sweeping under the rug the challenges we have met and the difficulties encountered in rising up to them. It is natural of us to underscore our positive accomplishments; but we never hide—or run away from duly acknowledging them— the occasional failures and shortcomings, when they occur, and if it is in the public interest to know about them.
Our openness is about presenting ourselves before God, the others around us, and the wider community as we really are. We accent the positive, of course. But we acknowledge the negative as well, when propriety and duty call us to do so.