When Servants Serve Themselves

Its March 7. Welcome to yestohellwith.com. Imagine something for a moment.

Imagine if the men and women who sat in the United States Congress lived their public lives the way Franciscan monks live theirs.

Not in robes.Not in monasteries.

But in spirit.

The Franciscans, founded by Francis of Assisi, built their lives around a few simple principles:

Humility.Service.Simplicity.And devotion to something higher than themselves.

They took vows of poverty so that wealth could never become their master.They rejected power so that power could never corrupt their purpose.They lived among the people so that they would never forget who they served.

Now imagine if the same spirit guided those who sit in the halls of Congress.

Imagine if every congressman and senator approached public office not as a career, not as a ladder of power, not as a pathway to wealth—but as a solemn act of service.

Imagine if they entered Washington with humility rather than ambition.

Imagine if their goal was not to expand government power, but to protect the freedom and dignity of the people who placed them there.

Imagine if they lived simply, so they could never be bought.

Imagine if their loyalty was not to party, not to donors, not to the machinery of Washington—but to the Constitution and to the people whose liberty that Constitution was written to preserve.

The Franciscan monk asks himself a question every day:

“How may I serve?”

If that question echoed through the chambers of Congress, something remarkable would happen.

The endless pursuit of power would give way to the discipline of responsibility.

The temptation of wealth would give way to the dignity of restraint.

The culture of political gamesmanship would give way to a culture of stewardship.

And perhaps most importantly, the American people would once again see something they have not seen in a very long time:

Representatives who remember that public office is not a privilege to exploit, but a trust to honor.

There is an ancient principle taught long before modern politics ever existed:

“The last shall be first, and the first shall be last.”

In other words, true leadership begins with humility.

The greatest among us are not those who rise above the people, but those who kneel to serve them.

Imagine if the leaders of this nation understood that principle.

Imagine if they did not compete to be first in power, first in privilege, first in influence.

Imagine if instead they competed to be first in service… first in sacrifice… first in fidelity to the Constitution they swore to defend.

Because the greatest leaders in history were never those who sought power for its own sake.

They were those who understood that power is only legitimate when it is exercised in humility and in service to others.

St. Francis understood that eight hundred years ago.

Imagine what America might look like if those who governed it remembered the same truth today.

Because a republic does not fail when its leaders lack intelligence.

A republic fails when its leaders forget that they are servants of the people, not masters of them.

And perhaps the greatest reform Congress could ever undertake would not be written in legislation.

It would be written in character.

A character that says:

“I did not come here to rule.”

“I came here to serve.”

And in doing so, they might rediscover the timeless truth that built every free society worth preserving:

Those who humble themselves in service will ultimately lead…and those who seek to lead for their own sake will eventually fall behind.

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