"For what shall it profit a man, if he shall
gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Mark 8:36 KJV)
During the recent pandemic, there are many
comments appearing about people re-evaluating what is important. It reminded
me of a personal experience almost 50 years ago.
I was asked by my employer, a large
international technology company, to relocate to rural Quebec, Canada, to be
part of the team building an advanced manufacturing site.
This request by the company's chairman
required me to move my family (wife and three children, 6, 9, and 12) from
Toronto, Ontario, to a small rural location. It was quite a change but a
significant honour.
We built a beautiful home beside a golf course
on the side of a mountain. We had two cars, a smaller one and a station
wagon with wood panelling on the side.
I had to visit the company's plants in
Sindelfingen, Germany, and Essones, France. Since the company would be
paying my expenses, we decided that my wife would go with me, and we would
have some vacation time.
Then, I received word that I had been chosen
to be part of a small, select group of executives for a week's training by
senior executives in the Netherlands. During the course, we even met with
the world-wide CEO. He told us that he had just completed flying around the
world eight times in the previous 30 days! I was impressed. Clearly, I felt
that I was "on the way up".
Before we left, a friend from New Zealand, who
was finalizing an advanced degree at McGill University, had agreed to move
out to our home and work on her studies while staying with our children.
We left the keys to our vehicles with the only
instruction that she should use the smaller car to drive in to Montreal for
church on the Sundays.
I can only speculate why she took the bigger
station wagon in to Montreal. However, leaving the restaurant after Sunday
lunch, she accidentally clipped a parked car and stripped the wooden
panelling from the right side.
Judy wrote me a letter stating what had
happened. I received the letter a few days later, in the middle of the
high-level training session.
I was very upset. My specific instructions had
been disobeyed, and my "prize possession" had, as a result, been damaged.
As I read this letter, another executive came
by and asked why I was so upset. I explained that the lady caring for my
children had driven them to Montreal and had been in an accident. He assumed
that there were serious injuries. When I explained that no one had been
hurt, but the side of the vehicle had been damaged, he expressed shock at
the troubled expression on my face.
Suddenly, I realized that my reaction was
totally out of order. I have never forgotten the "sermon" that was given to
me that day.
Perhaps like me, you have sometimes fallen
into the trap of elevating materialistic things above eternal matters. Love
of God and love of others constitute what is really important.
Prayer: Dear Father, as we strive to work our
way through these challenging times, help us to keep our priorities
straight. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.
Vincent Walter
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Reprinted from the
PresbyCan Daily Devotional
with the author's permission
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