For My Kids and Grandkids

It’s 9:00 A.M. and I’m sitting here in my den, with my feet propped up on my Grandfather’s old roll-top desk, listening to a Beatles CD, and wondering about the changes that have occurred in my lifetime (so far) and where I fit into the scheme of things.

Most of the people I work with are younger than most of my kids, and the stuff they have not seen is fantastic. A while back, I was talking to another old fart at work, and we had a great time talking ancient history to some of the kids.

The lady I was talking to mentioned that she had been a wiz with a slide-rule. Yep, you guessed it; the kid said, “What’s a slide-rule?” It made me stop and think about what I had when I was young that makes me ancient to those folks who will be running the country in the near future. We had 45’s, and LP’s. They’ve got CD’s and MP3’s. The laser that runs my CD player was science fiction when I was a freshman at Cleveland Lutheran High School East.

I’ve been working with computers since 1970. The first machine I worked with would have filled my garage, consumed enough power in one hour to light my house for a year, and generated enough heat to cook all the meals I eat in a month. This triumph of sophistication (remember, Neil Armstrong went to the moon with computers like that one) had 32K of memory. Today, there’s more computing power in a throwaway calculator. The machine on my desk has 4000 times the memory of that computer, and needs more.

My Grandpa saw horses give way to cars. He was born before the Wright brothers flew, and died the year before the moon landing. My Dad was born 2 years after WWI ended, and saw warfare advance (?) from bolt-action rifles to ballistic missiles. I was born just after WWII, and have seen TV turn to color, to cable and to satellite. Satellites were a dream when I was in grade school, now they track rental cars and direct us to the nearest Starbucks. The Internet has replaced newsprint and TV as the source of news for most of the folks I know.

Technology has grown at an accelerating rate, and will continue as long as our society holds together well enough to support it. What my grandchildren dream of will be commonplace to their children. The sad part is that yesterday’s technology is today’s junk. When an improvement is made, the “gotta have it” gadget of a year ago winds up in a landfill.

In spite of all of this change, some things are still worth having. My grandfather’s desk, purchased in 1910, will be my son’s desk one day, and God willing, his son’s. I remember my grandmother’s rose garden when I look at my wife’s roses. I see my wife as a young woman when I look at my daughters. I see my brother and sisters as children when I look at my grandchildren.

Some things, those with real value, are immutable. Family and friends will always be worth more than a wheelbarrow full of currency. Items made with real craftsmanship will never lose their value.

But, grace and salvation will always be the greatest gift ever given to mankind.

Think about how fortunate we are to be Christians. Christianity is the only religion that requires nothing except belief for salvation. All of the world’s other religions have a “must-do list” of rules. We have “he that believes and is baptized will be saved”. The others demand works for salvation. Our works flow from the freely given salvation. Others say walk the narrow path to enlightenment. We have “today you will be with me in paradise”.

My parents gave me a great gift. They had the faith and foresight to send me to a place like LHSE, where Christ was the center of my education. God gave me a greater gift in my parents and His son.

So, where do I stand in the scheme of things? Looking back at my ancestors, I see stonemasons, ministers, teachers, engineers, ice vendors, and wire weavers. Looking forward at my children and grandchildren I see love, faith, and unlimited promise.

I guess I stand in the best place possible. I can see the future, and relate the past to those who have come after me. I can pass the values of my forebears to my children and grandchildren. I can share my faith with friends, family, and strangers.

I’m halfway down the long and winding road.

God bless you all.