Last Wednesday, in keeping with our commitment to celebrate a different holiday each day for the month of March, we celebrated National Peace Corp Day. The Peace Corp is an important American agency organized and supported by the United States government to spread good will and to provide international support where needed.  Our day of celebration was much deserved.

And then I started reading more about the Salvation Army and immediately I felt another celebration coming on.

This celebration recognizes the unstoppable spirit of an everyday citizen who is committed to shining.

William Booth.

Booth was a London minister who gave up the comfort of his pulpit so he could take his message to the streets where it would reach the poor, the homeless, and the destitute.

In my world and yours that means Booth quit his job so he could earn no paycheck and have plenty of time to serve and minister people who had little to offer in return. That was in 1865.

Passionate and persistent, Booth inspired a volunteer army of followers to help him spread his message. Only they didn't like the term "volunteers," because, they insisted, they weren't volunteering. They felt compelled to do God's work. In a flash of inspiration, Booth renamed them the "Salvation Army. That was in 1878.

Name in hand, Booth wasted no time. That same year he established a Salvation Army flag and the set of principles and doctrine by which they would operate.

One year later Booth and his wife set up a corp in Scotland.

Two years later, the Salvation Army did their first work in the U.S.

One more year later, France.

Then Canada, India, Switzerland, and Sweden.

And a year after that Sri Lanka, South Africa, and New Zealand. 

Now they are in over 106 nations around the world.

All because one man was willing to leave his cushy paying job so he could live out his life's purpose.

Here is what I am taking away from this incredible man's story:

One. Without a supportive spouse, forget about it.  His wife, Catherine, played an instrumental role in the success of the Salvation Army early on.

Two. If you were actually following the timeline I shared, then you noticed that there were 13 years between the time he quit his job and the time the Salvation Army was finally organized and had its name. Shining takes patience.

Three. A good idea is hard to resist. Entering eleven countries in five years would constitute a success, even today. And Booth did it without Facebook and Twitter.

Four. Power and Position are no predictors of success. The size and scope of the Salvation Army more than rivals that of the Peace Corp. Only the Peace Corp was started by arguably some of the most powerful men in the world.

Five. No matter how much things change, some things remain the same. There is no substitute for being Relentlessly Passionate.

Happy Salvation Army Day.

Shining off until tomorrow...