It reminds me of the story of the great African American singer Marian Anderson. You may not remember her because she retired from singing in 1965, but she was one of the great singers of her day. Once in an interview a reporter asked her to "name the greatest moment in her life." She could have named:
* The night Conductor Arturo Toscanini announced, ’A voice like hers comes once in a century.’
* In 1955 she became the first African American to sing with the Metropolitan Opera in New York. * The following year her autobiography became a bestseller. * In 1958 she became the US delegate to the United Nations.
* She once gave a private concert at the White House for the Roosevelts, King George VI & Queen Elizabeth of England.
* Her hometown, of Philadelphia, awarded her the $10,000 Bok Award as the person who’d done the most for the city.
* In 1963 she was awarded the coveted Presidential Medal of Freedom.
* There was an Easter Sunday in Washington D. C. when she stood at the Lincoln monument and sang for a crowd of 75,000, which included Cabinet members, Supreme Court justices, and most of the members of Congress. Which of those big moments did she choose? None of them. She quietly told the reporter that the greatest moment of her life was the day she went to her mother and told her she wouldn’t have to take in washing anymore. The greatness of Marian Anderson didn’t merely stem from her extraordinary voice, but her gentle spirit.