Last year for Remembrance Day, I wrote of my wife’s grandfather who served in the experimental Dieppe raid. On my side of the family, there is a hero’s tale of a different kind. Otto Harder ran a delivery service. He drove a truck from Calgary to Crossfield and as his work was deemed “an essential service” to the community of Crossfield, he wasn’t drafted.
More than delivery, Grandpa’s character represented something in which we all need. His word was his bond. He had the keys to Crossfield and was trusted. His consistency of work and character envisioned him to be more than a “mere delivery service”. He built and supported his community, influencing and helping many.
There is a statement in a sacred text that I love, and it motivates me to live a life that is beyond my personal gain. “Seek the welfare of the city, for in its welfare will be your welfare”.
As residents of our communities, what does it look like to live like my grandfather? How can we be deemed as “essential services” to our communities? How can we make the welfare of our neighbour better? Chris Lowney, in his book, Heroic Leadership, makes this statement:
“Everyone is a leader, and everyone is leading all the time – sometimes in immediate, dramatic, and obvious ways, more often in subtle, hard-to-measure ways, but leading nonetheless.”
This Remembrance Day, I want to give tribute to an individual who quietly served his community, supported his neighbours, and gave of his time to the local projects and initiatives that built his community, one delivery at a time.
From my family to yours,
Lowell Harder
