Make that a failed do-gooder. Like the road to Hell, the way to my house is paved with good intentions.
Being continually wracked by the urge to do good, however, leaves me full of awe and admiration for those folks who actually manage to follow through on their noble intentions. The world is full of them.
Oh, sure, there are also plenty of bad apples - and too many bland apples, like me.
But the world is absolutely full of people with big hearts. Lots of them live right here in Troup County.
I know because I had a chance to preview the Big Heart award winners who will be recognized in Sunday’s newspaper. They are an inspiring group - selfless, tireless, loving, giving - the kind of people who understand the need to stay focused and positive, even when times are hard.
Millard Fuller understood that, too. When someone pointed out that money was lacking for a worthy cause, Fuller would straighten his lanky frame and say in his stirring twang, “God has all the money he needs to get this done. We just have to figure out how to remove it from somebody’s pocket.”
I’ve been thinking about big-hearted Millard Fuller since the shocking news of his sudden death this week. The founder of Habitat for Humanity surely qualified as a “do-gooder.” But the term falls so far short of capturing his essence as to be downright insulting.
Fuller took the simplest concept in the world - every person deserves a decent house - and through conviction, deep faith, entrepreneurial brilliance and immense personal charisma built a worldwide movement. Phrases he coined became household words - pun intended.
Fuller championed “sweat equity.” Potential Habitat homeowners are required to work alongside Habitat volunteers.
He preached the “theology of the hammer.” Talking the talk means nothing, he would say. Grab a tool belt and do something.
In a lifetime of writing about inspiring people, I have not encountered anyone more visionary or more committed than Millard Fuller.
You know his story: a self-made millionaire before he was 30, he and wife Linda felt a calling to serve - and gave away all their possessions to follow the call. Before he left Habitat, more than 300,000 “simple, decent homes” had been built around the world. The Habitat organization and the Fuller Housing Center, his last project, remain strong.
Fuller’s proclivity for “walking the walk” was reflected in his swift, simple funeral. He was laid to rest in a pine box coffin topped by a hammer and single red rose.
My friend Chuck Williams of the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer described the scene: “As mourners prepared to cover the casket with rich, red, South Georgia clay.” Chuck wrote, “Fuller’s daughter Georgia broke into song. She started the words to “How Great Thou Art,” and more than 600 people standing in the bitter wind of a 27-degree morning joined in.
“It was like a Habitat for Humanity construction site,” Chuck observed. “Hundreds of voices hammered away at the lyrics. Some were in tune, some were not. But they were getting the job done.”
And that, I think, is what distinguished Millard Fuller, what set him apart. He didn’t just walk the walk, he inspired thousands to join him along the way. Countless big-hearted folks, like many of those we’ll honor in Sunday’s paper, responded to his challenge and helped fulfill his dream.
I saw it with my own eyes - maybe you did, too - at the 2003 Jimmy Carter Work Project here. If our community has ever been united in pursuit of a splendid cause, it was then. The potential to do that monumental work exists everyday, but it took Millard Fuller - and those he inspired to lead - to get us up and off the couch, working like dogs, in soakingl rain and sucking mud, building houses for people we didn’t even know.
Even slackers like me got involved.
Millard Fuller will be remembered as a towering figure. That’s fine.
But what made him larger than life was his ability to take good people and inspire them to do great things.
Millard Fuller was a genius at that.
A genius with a hammer on his coffin.
And a legacy built strong and writ large on the foundations of thousands of simple, decent homes.
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