I cringe every time I see the operation room/control room/command centre bursting into cheers at the end of a film. You know the bit where they save the world, rescue the damsel in distress or whatever.
I’ve been in rooms like that and quite often things come to a slow end, there is no defining moment of success. But in the cases where I have seen a success moment it is often almost a downer. You have struggled to save the world/rescue the damsel in distress together. You have formed a bond. They are a sort of family of the moment and the family is sort of ending.
Tonight is a success night. I’m sitting in the Wales Online Community Awards waiting to hear about two of the Zacs Place family.
The first is Nurse Jan, who has been nominated for an award as the COVID-19 hero. You often hear about the mantra “no one left behind”. And you see that in Jan’s life – working through the pandemic to make sure the vulnerable of Swansea were cared for (and though the public face was about feeding folk there was so much more involved that people didn’t see).
Then there is the old man Sean, who has the vision that makes Zacs Place work. He is up for a lifetime achievement award. I think it makes around 30 years that he has been sharing his life with people from all walks of life.
I’m proud to see them both nominated (and we will see if they win later tonight). Tonight is a success story for the Zacs Place family.
I often see politicians saying “building houses is the answer” to the homeless. But life can be so much more complicated than twee political answers allow for. And the family at Zacs are a great example of how complicated life can be. So not every story in Zacs has a champagne ending with cheers and applause.
And that is the amazing thing about the family at Zacs – the story of success necessarily includes those bitter moments. And the greater the success the more bitter moments we see. In the words of Jesus,
Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? What could you ever trade your soul for?
So here is a drink to the Zacs family, especially to Sean who won the award, even if today the contents of the cup have that bitter taste again.