Two days before Christmas 1944, the US Army was falling back through southeast Belgium. The German Army was pressing through the Ardennes Forest in a last-ditch effort to turn the tide of the Second World War.
On that frigid evening, the commander of a retreating American tank destroyer spotted a lone US soldier, armed with just a bazooka and a rifle, chipping a foxhole out of the frozen ground by the road. The commander had already picked up other soldiers who had been separated from their units during the past week. He pulled his vehicle out of the convoy and stopped near the bedraggled, unshaven soldier.
Before the commander could say anything, the soldier on the ground looked up and yelled over the engine noise, “Are you looking for a safe place?”
“Well, yeah,” answered the surprised vehicle commander.
“Well, buddy, just pull that vehicle behind me,” he replied, “I’m the 82nd Airborne and this is as far as the bastards are going.”
The commander was taken aback, but inspired. “You heard the man,” he said to those with him, “Let’s set up for business!”
Throughout the night, more soldiers joined their small defensive position, which grew into a major strongpoint. Ultimately, their line held and the lightning advance of the Germans fizzled to a halt two days later.
Why did the commander trust that solitary soldier digging a foxhole? Surely his confidence and determination had something to do with it, but look at the first thing the soldier asks:
“Are you looking for a safe place?”
That question revealed two things about the solider:
- He accurately discerned what the commander needed.
- He sought to serve that need at his own expense.
This is benevolence in a nutshell: accurately discerning and actively serving the needs of another. We’re much more likely to trust someone who “gets us” and does something tangible to help us.
For Reflection: How could you better assess and serve the needs of others?
Update: 34,668 words
I’ve written 34,668 manuscript words out of a goal of 60,000. That puts me about 58% complete with the first draft, which is 3% more than last week.
Chugging along. It’s been important for me to sit down each morning and just focus on the writing I need to get done that day. I then spend time later in the day thinking about the bigger picture of how it will all fit together. It’s a good process that is bearing fruit.
