Yesterday Jennifer Krumm, COO of the Greater Merced Chamber of Commerce, and I went to an all-day seminar at the California Chamber of Commerce.  The seminar was entitled “Taking Your Chamber to the Next Level,” and it was sponsored by Superchex, a Chamber group that provides training for local Chambers to help them offer better programs and leadership to their respective communities.

I told Bev that it is stimulating to be around dynamic people.  The folks presenting and attending the seminar all had two or three general qualities.  The first was a desire to learn and grow.  They wouldn’t have been at the conference if that wasn’t true.  The second was a commitment to their respective communities.  Leadership at this level requires some personal sacrifices.  And the third was the ability to envision a better future.  Those qualities create interesting conversations.

One of my favorite quotes from the day was made by Dave Kilby, one of the presenters.  He told us about a tourist that was asking an elephant handler in India how it was that so large an animal could be tethered by a single chain and stake.  “The elephant could rip the stake out of the ground so easily,” the tourist said.  The handler responded this way.  “When the elephant was a baby, we tethered him to the stake, and because he was small he couldn’t pull it out of the ground.  The elephant assumes that he still can’t pull it out, and that’s what keeps him tethered there.”

It makes me wonder how many churches, individuals, and other institutions are like the elephant, tethered to something or some idea that keeps them shackled to the past.  I like seminars like the Superchex event because they cause you to examine ideas which may be limiting your growth and progress.