Contest. Answering the question, “What is the Purpose of Life?” in 3,500 words or less was
daunting enough, but I quickly discovered that I was also a novice writer going up against thousands
of professionals and previously published material. And just to keep it interesting, by the time I heard
about the year-long contest, the deadline was a mere ten days away.
I wasted several days writing furiously and getting nowhere. Then another former student came to
my rescue: “Why don’t you just write up that story about Brother John and his magical umbrella
that you love telling so much?” One week later, and only hours before the deadline, I hit “send” and
submitted my essay. I was proud of Brother John. While I was quite certain I would not win the contest,
I felt I had, almost accidentally, finally said something important about Brother John. Something that
I had wanted to say for a very long time. Then, I forgot all about it.
Eight months later, I answered the phone, only to discover that I was on a conference call with five
or six people from the Templeton Foundation. They seemed to be trying to tell me—all at once, as
I recall—that Brother John had won the $100,000 grand prize! Initially, I suspected that friends were
playing a practical joke, but as the call devolved into a seemingly endless loop of me screaming “No!”
as they shouted “Yes!” I was finally convinced that Brother John had won.
6
A few weeks later, the award ceremony was held at New York City’s fabled Four Seasons Restaurant. The
keynote speech (as well as my $100,000 check!) was delivered by one of the contest’s judges: Rick Warren,
the best-selling author of The Purpose Driven Life. The wonderful people from the Templeton Foundation
offered to fly Brother John to New York for the ceremony, and Father Francis, Mepkin Abbey’s abbot,
in a highly unusual dispensation, graciously allowed him to attend. Brother John’s gentle demeanor
and Irish sense of humor promptly stole the show. But perhaps best of all, my father, whose health was
already rapidly failing, was able to attend, as well.
The Templeton Prize dramatically changed my life. Brother John was published in two anthologies, The Best
Christian Writing and The Best Catholic Writing, and this, in turn, launched me on a second career. I became a
leadership contributor for Forbes.com, an on-air radio contributor for the BBC, and Columbia Business
School published my book, Business Secrets of the Trappist Monks. But the common fourteen-year-old thread
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.
