Category Archives: Uncategorized

“. . . there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live.”

• Ecclesiastes 3:12 

As my two sons’ respective high school graduations approached – by now, many years ago – I invited each one to dinner for one last father-son chat.  In the course of those two evenings I recall asking each the same question, “What do you want to be?”  Predictably both responded similarly with their career choice du jour – lawyer, architect, or whatever.  Yes, I replied, I appreciate what it is you want to DO, but I’m asking what you want to BE.  Puzzled at first each thoughtfully considered what I meant.  Finally they similarly answered, “I want to be a good person.”  Aha!  And that was the point of the question.

In his newly released book The Road to Character, which I have just begun to read, New York Times columnist David Brooks refers to the two versions of the creation story in the Book of Genesis, arguing that each version represents Adam in a different light.  Brooks calls them Adam I and Adam II.  Adam I is driven by his own abilities with a desire to “build, create, produce, and discover things.  He wants to have high status and win victories.”  Adam II, on the other hand, “wants to embody moral qualities . . . to have a serene inner character, a quiet but solid sense of right and wrong – not only to do good, but to be good.”  Brooks goes on to say, “While Adam I wants to conquer the world, Adam II wants to obey a calling to serve the world.”  You get the distinction.

Reflecting on those two evenings with each of my sons, I now realize that my question, “what do you want to be?” provoked “Adam I” answers because our education system and our culture in general are so oriented around the virtues of hard work and personal achievement, and less so about the “Adam II” qualities of character and morality – not to mention failing to encourage young people to listen for and respond to higher callings.

My intention with my sons was not to de-emphasize Adam I as inferior to Adam II (nor do I believe it is David Brook’s intention).  Rather, it was to encourage them to seek higher purpose in their work, whatever it is they chose; for fulfillment in life can only be found in serving God and doing good while we’re alive.  And that’s the point!

“. . . whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant.”  – Matthew 20:26 

My old company once revised one of its long standing internal policies.  I protested furiously, convinced that this newly dictated procedure would severely handicap our department’s ability to transact business.  So upset was I that soon I became obsessed with proving that I was right and “they” were wrong.  Unfortunately my anger and obsession began to cause me to lose sight of my real purpose, that of serving the customers and employees who I was charged to serve.  Only when I realized that my bitterness was robbing me of my true purpose did things begin to improve.  The new policy proved not to be nearly as inhibiting as I had predicted, the work environment improved dramatically thanks to my changed attitude, and business got back to normal.

There’s an old, rather comical description of heaven and hell which you’ve probably heard.  It begins with a scene from hell where its residents are gathered round a banquet table set with an abundant and scrumptious feast, not exactly what one would expect in hell, until a closer look reveals an atmosphere of bitter agony due to the fact that their arms could not bend so they could feed themselves.  Surprisingly, the scene from heaven was identical including the unbending arms.  The difference was that there was an atmosphere of great joy as the inhabitants used their stiffened arms to feed one another.

Although this fable may have been intended to create an image of the hereafter, it may actually be even more descriptive of the here-and-now.  How often do we become obsessed with surviving or thriving – or proving we are right like I did – when our real purpose should be to serve?  Surviving, thriving, and proving ourselves right is all about us, and focusing on “us” will ultimately lead to misery as demonstrated by the stiff-armed inhabitants of hell.  Serving, however, is about others, and serving others is what leads to joy like the inhabitants of heaven experienced.

Dr. Albert Schweitzer once claimed that “the only really happy people are those who have learned how to serve”.  Or as scripture teaches, “whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant.”

“Turn from evil and do good; then you will dwell in the land forever.”

• Psalm 37:27 

I recall sitting in the office of an executive with the Wall Street firm where I was once employed discussing the challenges of dealing with unethical or marginally ethical people within our industry.  (Every profession has them, by the way.)  The executive with whom I was meeting made a comment I will never forget.  Bad people never last, he assured me.  Eventually they go too far, step over the line, and get caught resulting in disciplinary action, firing, revoked licenses, law suits, or prosecution – and on rare occasions all the above.  I disagreed; for it seemed these clever shysters were ever present in my world placing an enormous burden on my staff and me to constantly monitor and police their activities – not the best use of our time and energy.  It’s just a fact of life, though, that from petty dishonesty to crime to terrorism to murderous dictatorships, evil is forever among us, and indeed has been throughout the history of mankind.

Someone once said that no matter how things may appear, there is no future in evil, only in good.  Pondering that has caused me to take heart; for discouraging as it is when it seems the bad guys win, when we consider that throughout history when evil actually is defeated – and it always is eventually, though not necessarily within our lifetimes – it is because in some way good has prevailed, thus validating that there is no future in evil, only in good.  Or as my old Wall Street executive friend assured me, bad people never last.

On Mount Sinai Moses received the same assurance from the Lord himself who said, “. . . for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.”

So we should take heart in doing good, for by doing so we are paving a path for the future; as there is no future in evil, only in good.  Or as the Psalmist affirms, “. . . do good; then you will dwell in the land forever.”

“‘Meaningless!  Meaningless!’ says the Teacher.  ‘Utterly meaningless!  Everything is meaningless.’” – Ecclesiastes 1:2 

Renowned psychiatrist Carl Jung once reported that a third of his cases suffered from no definable neurosis other than “the senselessness and emptiness of their lives,” according to author Philip Yancy in his reflections on the book of Ecclesiastes.  Jung went on to name meaninglessness the general neurosis of the modern era.

It was sometime back in the mid 1990’s when I happened to pick up a copy of Bob Buford’s newly published book Halftime.  Until then I thought I was living, by cultural standards at least, a reasonably meaningful life – good job, promising career, decent income, nice home, and a loving family.  But Buford’s book called all that into question.  His message contrasting significance from success stirred my soul, causing me to rethink the meaning of “meaningful”.  And the timing could not have been more perfect; for there I was in my mid-forties, just beyond the midway point of my own life – “halftime”.  (Interesting how the book of Ecclesiastes is so brilliantly placed in the canon of scripture just beyond the midway point, about “halftime” within the Bible.)

Solomon, if not the author of Ecclesiastes certainly the influencer of it, was a man who had it all to the extremes – wealth, power, wisdom, knowledge – which allowed him access to any and every opportunity, experience, and sensual pleasure any human could ever imagine, and he tried them all.  Yet after having it all he too suffered what Carl Jung named as the neurosis of the modern era.  “Utterly meaningless!”  Solomon declared.

My life can hardly be compared to Solomon’s, nor can yours.  But even under modest middle class circumstances we too are subject to experiencing meaninglessness. . . unless we find a greater purpose for which to live.  “It’s not about you,” Rick Warren states in the opening sentence of his popular book The Purpose Driven Life.  And therein lies the antidote to meaninglessness – the beginning of a fulfilling journey toward meaning and significance.  Serving God and serving mankind, there is no greater purpose.

“. . . unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed.  But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”  – John 12:24 

An artist friend once explained to me that as a rule of thumb when an artist dies his or her works almost instantly double in value.  As a businessman it makes perfect sense to me; for once the creator no longer exists his or her works become finite, thus making them increasingly more valuable.

I wonder, though, if there is not something deeper than the mere supply-demand dynamics of the marketplace.  Could it be that artists are never fully appreciated for their good works, and the perspectives they reflect on the world and on life, until after they are gone?  Perhaps that’s true for all of us, not just artists.  Consider, for example, Lincoln who was merely another president – and a controversial one at that – until after his death.  Then and only then did history consider him as having been our country’s greatest president, and a role model for his successors.

Jesus was trying to teach this to his followers in preparation for his own death.  “I tell you the truth,” he explained, “unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed.  But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”  Consider the fact that during his lifetime Jesus traveled no more than a few hundred miles mostly within the region of Galilee.  Most likely he did not encounter all that many people, especially compared to today’s mass media capabilities, and his most faithful followers were but a small ragtag group.  Yet the seed that fell to the ground from the cross where he died that then sprouted in the hearts of his ragtag group of followers transformed the world.

“In that lies the mystery of life,” adds gospel singer and songwriter Michael Card.  But first we must die to our self-centered ways; then and only then will the purpose of our lives turn toward serving mankind and God.  And it is in that dying to self where lies the mystery of life that Michael Card is referring to; for that is where we discover not the loss of life but the abundance of it.  And from that abundant life we build an abundant legacy that after we’re gone – like the artists – becomes increasingly more valuable.