It's been a good day anyway..

Much appreciated, comrades.

Dad was an unusual person. Contracted polio 3-months after he was married. The last time he walked was from the bathroom to the sofa in 1954 -- he was sick and they weren't sure what was wrong with him. He fell on the way there, pulling mom down with him. After five months in the hospital, and 21-days in an iron lung he got out.

Now what?

He held office jobs. He started a charity group that lasted till today. He was chairman for 40-years of this charity organization. In the late 70's he started a christian school and today the school has over a hundred students.

Throughout his life, whenever someone was down, or going through a tough time he would send them a letter to encourage them. As a boy, I must have carried hundreds of those letters to the mailbox. I didn't know what was in them, until years later people would tell me about getting a letterfrom dad. It's a good thing to touch the lives of so many people. When I was a boy I suppose I would have traded some of that for someone to play ball with, but time has taught me the value of his example.

I'll close with something he always told me when i carried those letters to the mailbox. "Put the flag up, son."

There is a flag somewhere for each of us, that needs put up. Who are we encouraging in life? How is our life touching that of others in a positive way? Are we available to care about others, or have we focused on self until the flame of compassion has flickered low? To each one, there is hope today.

If we have thought amiss, we can think aright. If we have driven the wrong road, we are free to turn around. If we fear that our wasted yesterdays might steer us through life, God can restore the years that the locusts have eaten.


Gerald C. Wagoner Jr.