What is Power?

Power, I have often heard, is not a good thing–it’s a necessary evil, even. As the saying goes, “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” On the other hand, some say that “knowledge is power.” If power is evil and knowledge is power, then it must be that knowledge, too, is evil. Intuitively, it seems, however, that knowledge is not evil–unless you believe the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil itself was evil. Some chide the powerful for their misuse of power while others cry for power to the people, as if power were some commodity that could be doled out like candy.

If you look up the word “power” in the dictionary, you might find some definition like “the ability to act or do something.” This is a very basic definition of power, but let it suffice for now: power is ability. Whenever I am able to do something, I am exercising some power of the mind and body to enact that thing I seek to do. Thus, power is the exercise of my ability or abilities that lie within the scope of my reach: I cannot do that which is beyond or outside my power.

In light of this, it seems, power is best manifest when power is shared, not only because it benefits others and compounds power exponentially with additive energy, but also because power shared is power gained.

Power Shared is Power Gained

The demonstration of one instance of power is but a sorry incident of power, however great a demonstration it may be. For example, a man with bulging muscles may awe an audience by lifting 500 pounds at the bench press, but more impressive is a couple or a group of individuals working together to lift a society out of the slums of despair and poverty of mind to the heights of elevation.

Another example might better illustrate this idea: a small child cannot reach the top shelf, so her father helps her reach it by lifting her up. This act not only enables our young girl to get the cookie but to also get the support of her father, who loves her. He has given her of his power so that she might be empowered to move further on in her life as a lover of cookies and sweet desserts.

Another example which may be even better is that of God: he creates not of necessity, but love for himself and his yet-to-be created beings, with whom he will share his power. For without the sharing of power, none of us would ever even begin to exist or be or breathe. Thus, God shares his power, absolute as it is.

The Balance of Power

The manner in which power is distributed is the degree to whether it will corrupt or not: power itself is no evil in itself, as an ability or abilities of a person or thing; it is the manner in which power is exercised that determines whether it is good or evil.

To guard against the natural tendency we humans have towards evil (more specifically, unhealthy selfishness), power must be shared: there must be a balance of power amongst the generations of humanity, whereby all are afforded equal opportunities, regardless of whether they are the same, as “sameness” is not the same as “equality.”

Power must be shared, if it is to be developed and grown, itself empowered to become all that which it was empowered to be.

Naming Power

The “namers” amongst us must name the powers that be, calling forth the powers inherent in each and every one of us, whether they be schoolteachers, parents, coaches, bosses and supervisors, whatever flavor of a prophet and visionary you are, you must name the powers you see in others, for they are your tender kinfolk, who look up to you for not only a grade, an allowance, a spot on the team, a paycheck, etc. These look up to you for guidance and mentorship, for affirmation that they are who they are and can do all that they have been created to be.