Memories to Start the New Year
It has been 4 years this Christmas since my dear dad, the pharmacist known as Mr. Ed in a little town in ND, passed away. He lived in the time and place where the drugstore was a very important part of the health of a community. He knew all the folks in town, who their kids were, what was ailing them and the medications they were taking. It was not unusual to be called out on a Saturday night or Sunday morning for a forgotten heart medication or something for pain, croup or indigestion. He was involved in Town Criers, was a board member and Sunday School teacher of the little Baptist church, was an emergency technician for the local ambulance and part of the volunteer fire department. He pulled calves, removed fishhooks, and even delivered a baby or two. He never knew a stranger and would have helped anyone who stopped on his doorstep, day or night.
For Dad, integrity and responsibility were built into every cell of his body. In about 1965 my dad purchased the building that the store moved into with a handshake, and dear old Mr. Zimbrick, the former owner had no doubt that Dad would pay every penny, on time. I know that Mom and Dad started out with nothing—and at the end of their lives they possessed a simple 2 bedroom home with a large garden and one old car. But they were incredibly content and felt very well off. Not only did they have a nice modest sum in the bank , but they were surrounded by 5 wonderful grandkids and had a chance to travel as far away as Europe and up to Alaska. My mom, having grown up a child of a share cropper in Missouri, would smile at me and say, “I never dreamed we would be so rich”.
This seems such a stark contrast to today’s Ponzi schemes, unbelievable bonuses and the thirst for ‘the good life,’ at any cost.
And I ask myself “what happened to the DNA that was in my Dad’s bones?” How have we changed so drastically in a mere generation? It seems to me that the key is not in the money but in the outward focus of life: my Dad and Mom were always looking outwards, caring for others, and knew that the community would only be a good place to be if THEY made it happen. And they did. Today it seems priority has turned towards the self-made individual, and a bunch of individualists together don’t make good communities…they hardly know one another as they pass by, quickly scurrying on to fulfill their own dreams and fill their own bank accounts.
The Bible tells us: Godliness with contentment is great gain. Mom and Dad gained much, died happy, and left my generation with much to think about.