Empty-Handed

One day in November 2009 I was at a World Vision event at the UN in New York with one of my heroes, Jayakumar Christian.

His book, God of the Empty-Handed, had recently been a game-changer for me during grad school. So as a young, idealistic intern I geeked out when I learned I might get the chance to meet him. He would have speaking duties during the event. He would surely be focused on that. But I took along my copy of the book in hopes I’d be able to grab him for a second, thank him for his work, and ask him to sign it.

During that event he was surrounded by people with impressive résumés – diplomats, bureaucrats, think-tankers – many of whom were eager for Jayakumar to know about their impressive résumés. They were geeking out about meeting him too, apparently. And he was kind and attentive to them.

But he was also kind and attentive to me, an intern who was invisible to most of the people in that room. He asked me questions and actually listened to the answers. When I saw him the next day he sought me out and addressed me by name.

Jayakumar, who had written about the way people with power all too often “play god” in the lives of those on the margins, practiced what he preached – not just in India, where he has lived this out for decades, but also in his interactions with an intern at a time when he, as a prominent featured speaker, was expected to be rubbing shoulders with the résumé people.

It remains one of the most instructive experiences of my life. I keep wanting to be like Jayakumar when I grow up.