<a href="http://www.halfwaytonormal.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/11314489_a7c52be257.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-212" title="11314489_a7c52be257" src="http://www.halfwaytonormal.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/11314489_a7c52be257.jpg" alt="" width="426" height="320" /></a>
<h5 style="padding-left: 270px;">Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/procsilas/">Procsilas Moscas</a></h5>
Numbers mean a lot to us. We are driven by them, because we measure success and worth by them.

I, for instance, occasionally fret about how many followers I have on Twitter (about 150). The number means something to me because I can compare it to scores of others who have over 1,000 and even as many as 30,000 followers. The other day I heard someone complaining about Facebook's arbitrary friend limit (5,000) because he was rapidly approaching it. I had no idea there was a friend limit. Why would I? It isn't likely that I—or any of my 240-some friends—need to worry.

Before you start to wonder, I'm not about to be that kid in high school who pretends she actually doesn't <em>want</em> to have more friends, because being popular really isn't that cool anyway.... Of course, numbers <em>do</em> measure and mean something, in certain circumstances. People with that many Twitter followers and Facebook friends are clearly some combination of smart/interesting/kind/entertaining (along with savvy and determined, and most likely sleep-deprived).

<strong>But the opposite isn't necessarily true. Smaller numbers, comparatively, do not always indicate the presence of all that's dumb/boring/mean/humorless.</strong> I've been trying to remind myself of this and keep things in perspective as I build the kind of network a writer needs to get any attention in today's world. It's a steady, messy inner battle involving ego, reason, patience and humor.
<h4>What we can learn about numbers from a church</h4>
Today I read an article that was both inspiring and humbling, in unexpected ways. It did more to put the idea of numbers in perspective than anything I've heard or read in a long time. Check out these numbers:

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For 60 years, the 91-year-old Gordon Cosby has been preaching at Church of the Savior. Since it was formed 6 decades ago, the church has been known throughout Washington D.C. as an activist powerhouse, starting dozens of organizations that serve thousands of people. Just to give you a sense of the scope, last year one of those organizations found jobs found for 800 people, while  another found 325 units of affordable housing for families in need.

Sounds like the work of a mega church, doesn't it? Actually, Church of the Savior is an anti-mega church. How small is it? When Cosby preached his final sermon last Sunday, about 70 people gathered to hear him speak.

Why, when I read that, was my first though "How sad!"? Because <strong>I am blinded and fooled by numbers. Numbers are on the surface. To get what's really behind the numbers—or to get past the numbers completely—you have to go deeper.</strong>
<h4>Staying small has made their impact big</h4>
In this case, going deeper meant reading the rest of the <em>Washington Post</em> article, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/05/AR2009010503341.html?wprss=rss_print/asection">Activist D.C. Church Embraces Transition in the Name of Mission</a>. This is where the humbling and inspiring part kicked in.  Listen to just a few of the very cool things about this church:
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">- The article describes the church's basic philosophy like this: "A commitment to serious, inward contemplation as well as ambitious social justice work. No spectators. Action over institution."</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">- The church has what the article calls an "aversion to bigness." (I've always heard this called the "daughter church" model.) "In the mid-1970s, the church broke more fully into different groups. And in the late 1990s, Cosby rattled many church members by proposing that they go further: legally become separate entities and eventually dissolve the Church of the Saviour, the umbrella structure."</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">- The article quotes 91-year-old Cosby as saying this: "'We've got to move from believing so deeply to doing,' he preached. <strong>'We've got to keep in mind the discrepancy between belief and embodiment.'"</strong></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">- And then there are these amazingly inspiring paradigm shifts: "After decades of bringing white, middle- and upper-class people into neighborhoods around Columbia Road and Adams Morgan to serve the poor and lecturing to seminarians and faith leaders, <strong>Cosby has concluded that societal change might go in the other direction.</strong>"</p>
Wow. Talk about turning it all on its head. It kind of reminds me of something someone said about the last being first and the poor being rich. And for some extra irony, get this: "[Cosby] noted that megachurches, now struggling to manage their size, have come to the church for guidance on how to be small."

I love it. I'm inspired. I'm ready to see the world differently.