Okay, so, years ago I had a dream wherein I was sitting on a flying throne of some sort with John Hagee, and we were of course, flying, and he asked me a very intriguing question. He asked me what the Degree of Reciprocity would be for my life. It was more of a challenge and less of a personal question. I don't think I've ever heard anyone use the word "reciprocity" before; in fact, it might not be a real word. I assumed it was from the word "reciprocal" or "reciprocate."
I was suddenly reminded of this dream a moment ago when I saw a quote by Albert Einstein that one of my customers tacked on to their email signature. It says, "It is every man's obligation to put back into the world at least the equivalent of what he takes out of it."
This perfectly describes what John Hagee was talking about in my dream. If someone were to give the world exactly what he took from it, his life score (his Degree of Reciprocity) would be zero. After I had this dream, it made me think differently about life, and that there should be a human desire and privilege, if not requirement, to give more than one takes: a life score in the black. Before, I had a more American Dream sort of perspective, where my main goal was to "do pretty well for myself" (as some people say in reference to rich people) and avoid discomfort of any kind.
My coworker Dan mentioned that he thought today was the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination. I like the fact that he was named after another great reformer--so prophetic. Dr. King had a pretty impressive Degree of Reciprocity, as did the original Martin Luther, and so did figures like Gregor Mendel and Corrie Ten Boom. I'm pretty sure that in our eternal bank account, all we'll have to keep from this life is the difference we made in the lives of others. Cha-ching.
