a simple prospectus

henry luce and briton hadden already owned two publications; but they became fascinated with the title of a small fledgling magazine.  they couldnt care less for the magazine, all they wanted was the name. so for 93,000 dollars, they purchased the rights to use the name of this magazine and began dreaming about what the mission of this publication would be. below is the confidential prospectus for this new magazine: 

THE PURPOSE: To see life; to see the world; to eyewitness great events; to watch the faces of the poor and the gestures of the proud; to see strange things – machines, armies, multitudes, shadows in the jungle and on the moon; to see man's work – our paintings, towers and discoveries; to see things thousands of miles away, things hidden behind walls and within rooms, things dangerous to come to: the women that men love and many children; to see and to take pleasure in seeing; to see and be amazed; to see and be instructed; Thus to see, and to be shown, is now the will and new expectancy of half of humankind. To see, and to show, is the mission now undertaken by a new kind of publication, THE SHOW-BOOK OF THE WORLD…  

this new kind of publication is called LIFE magazine.

in 1936, henry luce penned this opening paragraph, inviting the world to see life in new ways.  for those who would never have the privilege to travel thousands of miles away could now see, be amazed and instructed by the realities of life.  i continue to find myself coming back to this prospectus, reading it over and over and imagining the sheer belief that luce must have had in the power of a great photo. 

if you had to write a prospectus for what you want to create, feel called to do, or are currently doing – what would you say?

Comments

[Andrew]

Now, that's incredible. And inspiring. "sheer belief" is a great phrase to describe the audacity and hope of his vision.
This is a challenging post.

[Mimi Borst]

Steve, Its taken me 2 years to find your blog.. i guess i should open my eyes a little more.. so i was searching through your green room---"let your life speak." i will pick this up immediately. If possible, could you please send me the names of a few more books along the same lines??
you and your wife inspire me.. keep living out Truth.