SURROUNDED BY GOODNESS
2 Chronicles 34: 1”Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. 2 He did right in the sight of the LORD.”
Josiah though he took position as king at a young age, we read that he did right in the eyes of God because he was surrounded by good people (goodness). Goodness is always not only materialistic things like car, money, house etc., having saintly, godly people around you who will make good deposit in your life is much greater than riches. Say amen.
Look at the treasure-like saints and good workers that surrounded king Josiah, when you sow goodness, you will reap goodness too :
• verse12 The men did the work faithfully with foremen over them to supervise: Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites of the sons of Merari, Zechariah and Meshullam of the sons of the Kohathites, and the Levites, all who were skillful with musical instruments.
• Hilkiah the high priest who found the book of the law
• Shaphan the scribe, brought the book to the king and read it to the king.
When Hilkiah the high priest found the book of law, he did not carelessly throw it away but he dutifully asked Shaphan the secretary to take it to the king. Shaphan the secretary not only brought the book to the king but also read it to the king. Hallelujah! When king Josiah heard it, he tore his clothes and repented. We need such nice people around us to lead us in the right path!
Therefore above are the battery of people who were responsible for the upliftment of king Josiah. Good workers are the backbone of the success of any organization, as much as skills, brilliance, business acumen, insight, shrewdness , commitment , astuteness are essential; nevertheless, good character and godliness is also uppermost. Anybody listening?
Let me share a testimony: I found a Christian young married woman moving closely with an elderly woman in the floor of the company where I worked and talking to her with great anxiety everyday. I later got to know that because of marital problems, the Christian woman was discussing about visiting witchcraft people to take their advice; however, I intervened at the right time in her life and gave her a Bible to read, taught her to fast, pray and also attend prayer meetings. God turned around the situation and her marriage was restored. Clap hands for God! Move with people who will ask you to forgive, love, be humble, treat others well, respect and obey. SURROUNDED BY GOODNESS!
ILLUSTRATION:
On November 26, 2008, Harish Manwani, chairman, and Nitin Paranjpe, CEO, of Hindustan Unilever hosted a dinner at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel in Mumbai . Unilever’s directors, senior executives, and their spouses were bidding farewell to Patrick Cescau, the CEO, and welcoming Paul Polman, the CEO-elect. About 35 Taj Mumbai employees, led by a 24-year-old banquet manager, Mallika Jagad, were assigned to manage the event in a second-floor banquet room. Around 9:30, as they served the main course, they heard what they thought were fireworks at a nearby wedding. In reality, these were the first gunshots from terrorists who were storming the Taj. The staff quickly realized something was wrong. Jagad had the doors locked and the lights turned off. She asked everyone to lie down quietly under tables and refrain from using cell phones. She insisted that husbands and wives separate to reduce the risk to families. The group stayed there all night, listening to the terrorists rampaging through the hotel, hurling grenades, firing automatic weapons, and tearing the place apart. The Taj staff kept calm, according to the guests, and constantly went around offering water and asking people if they needed anything else. Early the next morning, a fire started in the hallway outside, forcing the group to try to climb out the windows. A fire crew spotted them and, with its ladders, helped the trapped people escape quickly. The staff evacuated the guests first, and no casualties resulted. “It was my responsibility….I may have been the youngest person in the room, but I was still doing my job,” Jagad later told one of us. Good person like MALLIKA JAGAD made Taj Mahal Palace Hotel proud!
When Karambir Singh Kang, the Taj Mumbai’s general manager, heard about the attacks, he immediately left the conference he was attending at another Taj property. He took charge at the Taj Mumbai the moment he arrived, supervising the evacuation of guests and coordinating the efforts of firefighters amid the chaos. His wife and two young children were in a sixth-floor suite, where the general manager traditionally lives. Kang thought they would be safe, but when he realized that the terrorists were on the upper floors, he tried to get to his family. It was impossible. By midnight the sixth floor was in flames, and there was no hope of anyone’s surviving. Kang led the rescue efforts until noon the next day. Only then did he call his parents to tell them that the terrorists had killed his wife and children. His father, a retired general, told him, “Son, do your duty. Do not desert your post.” Kang replied, “If it [the hotel] goes down, I will be the last man out.” Taj was blessed with good staff.
During the onslaught on the Taj Mumbai, 31 people died and 28 were hurt, but the hotel received only praise the day after. Its guests were overwhelmed by employees’ dedication to duty, their desire to protect guests without regard to personal safety, and their quick thinking. Restaurant and banquet staff rushed people to safe locations such as kitchens and basements. Telephone operators stayed at their posts, alerting guests to lock doors and not step out. Kitchen staff formed human shields to protect guests during evacuation attempts. As many as 11 Taj Mumbai employees—a third of the hotel’s casualties—laid down their lives while helping between 1,200 and 1,500 guests escape.
Our studies show that the Taj employees’ actions weren’t prescribed in manuals; no official policies or procedures existed for an event such as 26/11. Salute! Taj was surrounded with not only opulence, splendor and pomp but the true grandeur were the good employees.
