The entirety of life is one humongous learning process. Day by day we acquire bits and pieces of useful and not-so-useful information. Some of it is stored consciously in our computer-like brains for recollection at a later date and some of it goes in one ear and out the other never to be recalled. Life teaches us many things through the experiences that we have. Some are good and some are not so good. The unfortunate part is that we usually don’t get “do-overs” for the not so good parts. Fortunately, the good parts occur more frequently than the less fortunate parts.
As I approach my 61st birthday, an age I still consider to be relatively young, I can say that I have learned many things during my three score years on the planet earth. I have learned there is no substitute for kindness and humility. I have learned that service to others is perhaps the greatest calling that we have. And I have learned that we are all sojourners here but for a brief time, and then we move on to the next phase of our existence.
My perspective on life has been influenced by many things, including, but not entirely limited to: my early years on a small farm in a rural part of north central Texas; my summer jobs; my college years; my military years on the Texas-Mexico border as a court reporter for the USAF; my married life of almost thirty-two years; my two wonderful children, their spouses and two precious grandchildren, Emma and Kate; my worldwide travels in Central and South America, Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia and the Middle East where I lived with my family for seven years in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia; my working experience with several of the giant corporations of the world, e.g., Rockwell International and General Dynamics; time spent as a volunteer prison chaplain; my church life and association with Christian friends. I’ve performed many different jobs in my lifetime from mowing lawns to selling Bibles door to door while hitchhiking in the Appalachian foothills of West Virginia. I’ve been a furniture mover, butcher and grocery stocker, prison guard for the Texas prison system, life insurance representative, financial headhunter and contract negotiator. At times I wonder how I squeezed all of this into sixty short years.
We all want to be remembered after we pass from this life and don’t cherish the thought that we, like those who have gone before us, will someday be forgotten and our name no longer spoken by anyone. It’s unlikely that anyone beyond the generation of my grandchildren will remember me. But since words tend to outlive pictures and memories, there’s a chance my descendants will discover what type of person I was by reading some of the things that originated in my heart and found their way onto paper.
I don’t know how many more years I have on this earth to learn and to share what I have already learned, but I can only hope that I have “miles to go before I sleep” to quote the renowned American poet Robert Frost. It was also Frost who said “In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on.” As your life “goes on,” I wish for you paved roads, sunny skies, and a clear vision of where you want to go in life. May God always be with you on your journey.
Ken EllisGod bless, Steve Luke 18:1
www.hawleybooks.com
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com
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