One of the most interesting
facts I learnt while visiting Rome last weekend was during our tour of the Colosseum and Forum Romanum. The Roman emperors would travel around doing their
thing, making it very clear to the people that they were in charge and making
sure they were submissive- both through putting on days of “games” in the
Colosseum with free food so they wouldn’t think to rebel, as well as putting up
ridiculously high statues of themselves. Needless to say these Emperors were
quite proud and confident and probably quite full of themselves. So, when they
would travel around they would have a “whisper” accompany them. A person whose
role was to remind them that they were not gods and not immortal. Someone to
keep them “grounded” so to speak. (Naturally these whispers life expectancy
probably wasn’t very long).
I’ve been thinking
about this quite a lot, realising that today what most people need isn’t a
“whisper” to keep them grounded but a “reverse-whisper” to lift them up. Most
people think less of themselves and tend to put themselves down and negatively
compare themselves to others, rather than see all they have in them and their
value and talents. And so I think we all need “reverse whispers” to remind us
of who we are and what we can do. Not so we become puffed up and proud, but so
that we become who we were created to be and able to help others become all
they were created to be and do.
And we can all be
“reverse whispers” to those around us. Instead of just thinking the good things
we see in someone, saying it... “whispering” it. And using our words to bring
life to those around us.