1. The ability to inspire enthusiasm, interest, or affection in others by means of personal charm or influence

In the early decades of my life this word was not at all in everyday usage.  Now you hear it all the time.  “He or She really has charisma.”  If we are fortunate enough in life to be charismatic, we have the ability to draw people to us by the sheer force of our God-given magnetism.

2. A gift or power believed to be divinely bestowed

So it’s not to be bought in a bottle and applied vigorously twice a day; rather, it’s a gift from God.  So the next question is, “How do I get me some?”  Or is God selective and only bestows favors on favorites?  Not the God I believe in.  I believe we earn our charisma through hard work and giving – lots of giving.

I once, at the last minute, was given 2 free tickets to see an Elton John Concert at Madison Square Garden.  Of course I jumped at the chance, grabbed the tickets, a friend, and went, rejoicing at my good fortune.

The seats were terrible, explaining why the tickets were free.  Madison Square Garden is not square, but round, or oblong, with the stage sitting at one end and the audience filling ¾ of the house out front and wrapping around behind the stage.  The seats behind the stage are normally not sold, but this night they were, or perhaps they were just given away.

I laughed at my roller coaster ride of fortune when I saw the seats, for who wants to sit behind the band and watch and listen from the rear.  Not I.  But we decided to stay for a bit just to see the event from this peculiar perspective.

And that’s just what I got – a different perspective.

Elton did not ‘play’ to us unfortunates at all.  He never even glanced at us.  Celine Dion plays some of her concerts in the round and does a terrific job at playing the whole house.  Theater in the round is tough to pull off and requires some real thought and direction to do it right and include all.  But Elton perhaps did not even know that we were back there sitting in the dark.  He didn’t need to.  He had charisma.

Instead of turning around at times and singing to us lonely bad seats, he did something I shall never forget.  He put me on the piano – me and everybody else in the room, all 25,000 of us.  How?  By the sheer force of his charisma.

As it turned out, I had great seats.  I sat in the best seat in the house, on the piano, and watched the whole concert.  He somehow brought us all up on to the stage with him – he did not go out to us, but by the sheer force of his charisma, he opened his life and let us come completely in.  And oh how we loved him for it!  I rarely saw his face, but I knew his face and his intention and his commitment from the back of his head.  I saw the twinkle in his eye when I could not see his eyes.  I felt the joy in his heart when I could not touch his chest.

I sat and wondered, “How is he doing this?”  Then I got it.  He was giving everything he had to the performance.  He was living his life huge in this magnificent room in front of 25,000 adoring fans and giving of his entire being.  He was totally in the experience of now-ness.  Each moment was Elton at his best and he was throwing open the doors and windows to his life and shouting, “Y’all c’mon in!”

Of course he also had a lot to give.  Great music, great songs, great talent, but more than that, a great joy of life and a great heart of giving.  Oh how he worked – I could see it in his shoulders.  Oh how he concentrated – I could see it in the tilt of his head.  Oh how well he was rehearsed – when he did a handstand on the piano keys still playing, he first theatrically kicked the piano bench back across the stage and sent it tumbling into a safe zone.  When he came back down to earth from his handstand, a roadie had replaced the bench with another so that he could immediately sit and continue playing the song.  The audience went nuts.  He sweated through 3 costume changes.

He was the epitome of a rock star.  He was fully committed.  And he welcomed us all into his commitment that night and we went enthusiastically because we trusted him totally.  He had won that trust through previous deeds – after all he was Elton John.  But he verified that trust and adoration that night by his sheer joy of giving.

Charisma.

Mahatma Gandhi had it.  It was of an opposite nature.  It was not loud, it had no stage, no lighting , no costumes, no electric guitars, but it was the same charisma – this time in quietness, in intention, in peace.

Baba Ram Dass had it.  I saw his talk on Spirituality at Filmore East back in the 70s and we all sat spellbound as this simple man spoke.  When he got up to leave, we all loved him, we adored him, we honored him and would not leave the theater.  He was there and we simply had to be there with him and would not let it end.  We called him back to the stage again and again for hours that night and he kept on coming back and giving and we kept on staying because he was the best life had to offer and we were not going to let go.

Barack Obama had it those last days of his campaign.  He swept up a nation and asked us to believe in him, but what he really did was to gain our adoration and then constantly and selflessly turn it back upon us so that we would adore ourselves.  He re-invigorated our belief in America which was Obama which was its people which was each of us individually.  He gave us back our hope for ourselves.  His giving was not for Obama, but for the greater goodness of America.

Hitler had it, but his intentions were foul.  And so, in the end, his charisma disappeared because it had no basis in integrity and so his nation turned from him, realizing finally that his purpose was terribly flawed.  He died lonely and confused, but make no bones about it, he had it.

Jesus had it – so much so that men dropped their whole lives on the spot and turned and followed him.  I got an inkling that night with Baba Ram Dass of what it might be like to not go home, but simply move on and follow someone because of the great light that poured from within.  Jesus’ charisma was so powerful that it still exists today even though the mortal man is not here to perpetuate it.  Jesus had charisma.  In infinite proportion.

Gautama Buddha  had it.  Muhammad had it and with it he united the tribes of Arabia into a single Muslim religious polity.  George Washington had it and with it he turned a rag tag army of patriots into a force that defeated the most powerful military nation on earth.

You have it.  We all have it.  We just have to prepare.  We have to believe in ourselves.  We have to love our audience and then we have to give of our lives with full commitment.  It’s not magic.  It’s natural.  It is a possibility for each of us.