Find below a quote from Commissioner Frederick Booth-Tucker on the relationship of George Scott Railton to the William and Catherine Booth and the mission of The Salvation Army.I find interesting parallels between the relationship of the "first Lieutenant" to the General... and how this can easily become a model to exemplify the relationship of youthworker to Corps Officer.
When combining the 'reckless zeal' and 'single-eyed devotion' of the young leader to the wisdom of a good Corps Officer who knows how to "curb without crushing" and "control without perverting a disposition" - I believe that impossible dreams for our broken communities can be realized.
I would rather face the challenge of directing the energy of wild stallions than spend time trying to motivate tame mules who refuse to move!
What do you think?
"Need we say that we are describing Mr. Railton as he was, rather than as he is? Mr. and Mrs. Booth recognized and appreciated this untamed genius... They admired his reckless zeal... his perfervid courage - his single-eyed devotion to his Master's cause. They would sooner mount a horse that would run away with them than one who would not go. And here was one of Nature's throughbreds, requiring neither whip nor spur... They believed they posessed the capacity to curb without crushing and to control without perverting a disposition so full of nobility, and whose very mistakes were only virtues magnified. And they were not disappointed.”"There were awkward times... when the Army chariot was carried round awkward corners at a dangerous speed," that "would have left (the Army) a useless wreck by the roadside... But the 'iron hand in the velvet glove' which held the reins was there to avert the passing danger. The rashness of the daring saint was always more easily forgiven than the torpidity of the timid looker-on."
Commissioner Frederick Booth-Tucker The Life of Catherine Booth, p.28f.
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