There was a Jewish boy who grew up in Germany many years ago. This boy deeply admired his father. His father led the family to their Jewish Synagogue faithfully and the boy grew up with strong Jewish values and beliefs.
In his teen years his family was forced to move to another town in Germany where there was no Synagogue; only a Lutheran church- the life of the community. The Lutheran church was the gathering place for all of the town’s important businessmen. Wanting to be well-connected in business, his father made the family abandon their Jewish traditions and join the Lutheran church. The boy was deeply wounded and confused by his Father.
The boy’s broken heart distorted his view of reality and drove him away from God and religion and later led him to the British Museum in England where he compiled his new beliefs into a book. In that book he laid the foundation for a movement that would forever change the world. He described religion as the “opiate for the masses” and developed a world system of life without God. His ideas would become the norm for governments of almost half the world’s people. His name was Karl Marx, founder of the Communist Movement.
The history of the world was forever darkened because of one Jewish boy’s broken heart. Brokenness can distort reality. Few of us are fully aware of how much our past experiences dictate our worldview today.
“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom” – Aristotle
What drives values in a business is employees who truly know themselves – who are fully aware of their own proclivities and penchants, strengths and shortfalls. For a company to become the best-version-of-itself, employees must be committed to continually becoming better-versions-of-themselves. May we all seek out friendships and professional counsel who can help uncover the wounds that may be distorting our own perceptions. May God give us the wisdom to restore those broken places in our lives. And may we constantly strive to become the true and free individuals we were created to be.