Editorial

I have always had a special place in my heart for Fathers’ Day. As the father of three sons, I thank God every day for the blessings they have brought upon my life and I will do everything possible to continue to earn their respect until the day I die. Thus, I am sure, it is the same with all fathers. This year, as I pondered about what to write as my annual Fathers’ Day message, I came upon an essay which was written by a Columbine High School student. His thoughts made me realize what we Fathers’ have done during our time on this earth. It also made me think about what we can do in the time we have remaining to correct some of our mistakes. I want to share this essay with you, and as you read it, place yourself in the shoes of the high school student who must now live with the memory of seeing his friends and classmates shot to death in a tragedy we will never be able to understand. He didn’t provide a title to the essay, but I like to call it “Much in the Show Window, But Nothing In the Stock Room”.

“The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings, but shorter tempers; wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints.

	We spend more, but have less.
	We buy more, but enjoy it less.
	We have bigger houses and smaller families; more conveniences, but less time.
	We have more degrees, but less sense; more knowledge, but less judgment; more experts, but less solutions; more medicine, but less wellness.
	We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values.
	We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.
	We’ve learned how to make a living, but not a life.
	We’ve added years to life, not life to years.
	We’ve been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbour.
	We’ve conquered outer space, but not inner space.
	We’ve cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul.
	We’ve split the atom, but not our prejudice.
	We have higher incomes, but lower morals.
	We’ve become long on quantity, but short on quality.
	These are the times of tall men, and short character; steep profits, and shallow relationships.
	These are the times of world peace, but domestic warfare; more leisure, but less fun; more kinds of food, but less nutrition.
	These are days of two incomes, but more divorce; of fancier houses, but broken homes.

It is a time when there is much in the show window, but nothing in the stock room.”

I think many of us now realize that we put far too much time and energy into making sure that our personal “Show Window” is very impressive. We want others to think that everything is rosy and great in our life. We put fancy cars and toys in our driveways; fur coats and expensive clothing on our backs; take exotic vacations; spend freely on all kinds of technology and material objects.

And yet, our personal “Stock Room” remains empty of fulfilment and satisfaction. Many of us seem to have everything in our “Show Room”, yet we can’t understand why we are not happy. It is because our “Stock Room” is empty.

This Fathers’ Days is a good time for all fathers to check out their personal “Stock Room”. If it is empty, see what you can do about filling it. I want to end my editorial this week with a quotation from Mark Twain that my wife gave me. It is taped above my computer so that I can look at it every day.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do, than by the things you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the tradewinds in your sails. Explore! Dream! Discover!”

Have a very happy Fathers’ Day!

June 13, 2001

There is Much in The Show Window, But Nothing In The Stock Room