From the Patron

This month's blog is an invitation for the creative. It is also a good sample of what a Hartsync session storyline could look like minus the interactive bits. If you are a creative, I hope, dear reader, this hits you as an affirmation for that thing in your gut you’ve been wanting to do. 

“There was once a man who now has a massive house filled with all his friends. His work has always been important and has financed many life-changing dreams. For every man he has employed or invested in, he trained up in the art of giving back to the next generation. But, story after story, this man and his philanthropy eventually grew to become a myth. For it was not he that got remembered, so much as what was produced and who succeeded with his investments. He aimed to shape culture with creative ideas to help one generation aid the next. But, only those invested in knew who had given and what for. Those chosen culture shapers didn’t even know each other.

As rumors go, you would identify one now by the stories behind their ideas. There was a typical pattern in each account that showed his trademark. The chosen had no degree, connections, or money- a noticeable lack. The perfect vessel was someone typically fearful, shy, or the runt of the litter. These people had to take significant acts of risk to produce favorable success… but not just for a year or two...for decades! Some investments were like Chinese bamboo, planted centuries before and popped out much later. Some investors, then, never saw the fruit of the investment.

Time was the only sure, easy way to know who had been invested in. Because it would prove the story to have the common thread he is known for. Making life and impact where no one saw it coming.

It was also true of this man that some investments were made that were never quite finished. And some investments were made that were never even collected. Some were made that launched too soon. Failure was common with investments but not a determiner of outcomes. Yet this particular businessman carried a joy for giving and an optimistic heart. No matter the performance, he never became calloused or hard. He never demanded his investment back or asked for credit where credit was due. So generous was this man that he zero-balanced every year.

Now let me tell you about the type of men he invested in where the rumor mill has kept a record. Please remember an age-old trait: it is not facts that last; it is stories that do.

One Investee studied the stars and plotted them with many numbers. He believed that if something was designed to be a certain way, it would be that way. There were no errors in nature. Instead, he found an oddity, some percent error in a particular path. Like any good researcher would do, he plotted the stars for years just to be sure. Over and over again, he plotted to remove any other factor that might explain the mistake. It was here the businessman found him. The man would have to wager his life and livelihood to publish his findings. They met one night, the man in agony because he had kids to feed. To publish would mean he would be removed from them, put on house arrest, and labeled a heretic. He would risk them growing up to believe their dad was a bad man. He wagered his life because he trusted the businessman. He would rather help his kids move towards a higher truth than allow them to live in a world with a lie he had disproven. He erred on the side of curiosity.

Another investee was a man who read the work of a man who flew a kite with a key and conducted a lightning path. This man had always been fascinated by light and felt a great loss whenever the sun went down. This man knew people could be more productive if he could harness and capture light in a different form. The businessman found this man somewhere around his 999th try. Determination had led him with each experiment to learn something new. 

How often are we asked to do something we do not know how to do? Of that number, how many are there none who know what to do to counsel us? How many things that we do could change the quality of life 5 generations and beyond? 

Lasting impact is what the businessman sews into, and it is his vision. This sort of investment requires a certain amount of risk. It is not for the light-hearted. 

Another investee loved to reason. He took the concept of reaching for the unknown and wrote. This story and its philosophies have lasted generations. The businessman leaned in with a smile the first time he heard of the cave and the shadows on the wall. “What was beyond those shadows? Where did the light come from? Is that not describing what I do right now with people and ideas?” he thought. Ideas tend to be like straining to see in the periphery of vision… they are a little fuzzy, and getting them just right takes time. Though they are never perfect. This world has its opposites.

For example, the lightbulb, once invented, created a problem. Horses, the primary method of transportation then, could not sleep in all the light. The “sun” confused them, disrupting their sleep cycle, and their tiredness led to illness. If the effect of more light and more working hours affected a horse, how much more did this one investment create both life and problems in mankind? For one solution came another problem. A mask was made for the horse to help it sleep, and eventually, the automobile was invented. Such is the ripple effect.

As a result of just loving to partner in ideas, the businessman dealt an investment regardless of the outcome where he saw fit. Sometimes people to this day don’t understand the wheres and the whys. In some cases, the impact was never seen. Half-baked ideas were his favorite specialty. Sometimes those invested in breached their contracts. Sometimes he couldn’t fund the right idea, so he supported the next right thing. Sometimes people hired had addictions or found tragedy after he’d given, and the outcome was shaped by their own personal beliefs. As you can see, this is a high-risk profession for the businessman.  

You must know that this businessman was once a creator himself. He excelled at it to the point he made one of everything. However, he found that what he loved more was helping others create. So now, he gives away the next steps and his best ideas. Mentoring, think tanks, idea hubs… they fill him with delight. So he changed tracks and pivoted to the business he loves now. It is the process he loves most, which is why the investment lies with people and not with the perfect idea every time.  

After one World War and a bunch of hunger, reality was bleak. There was a significant need for many investments. The businessman found a man who comforted souls with music, playing only what he could carry into a concentration camp. At that time, what he produced was revolutionary because its effect was hope. Many people used their energy to process the discord around them, travailing that no resolution could be found amongst such pain. All of life was called into question in this season, as was the problem of pain. Investment was given in a prison camp to one who composed a story of hope. This one man’s art created a pathway to restoration in the coming age. It reminded people the story was not over and the ending would be good. In a time of great sorrow and questioning, it stood as a testimony to one concrete, immovable thing…the sovereignty of Jesus.

So what is this man up to today, you might ask?

Have you checked your mailbox yet today?

As long as I have known this Patron of saints, he has loved the potential in people. He watches while we wade to our destinies and designs…and then starts in. Then, just about the time a heart soars with possibility, and right before the wind comes to knock it out of their hands, he invests. Little invitations, little synchronized conversations, well-timed gifts, and inspiration. It is Him. Can you see it?

Should you find any of these little clues in your own life, ask yourself, “What have I got to lose?””