My life has been a journey.
And I have tried to keep to the straight and narrow path.
But the paths I have taken have often not hewn to the straight and narrow.
My way has taken me to places and situations that have been anything but straight.
It has been a long way away from home that was Angeles.
I left my hometown at ten years old and have been and seen places I never dreamed of.
I now live thousands of miles away from where I started
with people who are very dear to me I had no idea about when I was ten.
I have traveled my way through times and events that are neither narrow nor easy.
In my teens and early twenties, I was busy seeking and creating.
Finding myself and creating the person I wanted to be.
Finding a career, creating a name and a brand, starting my family.
My late twenties and thirties were years of building.
Building a home, building a reputation, building for the future.
My forties were times of contributing and giving
Making a difference, making a contribution and making the earth a better place.
My fifties were years where I was tasked to lead, to change and to dare.
I was involved in mergers, acquisitions, organizational development, managing change.
At sixty, I was at a heady high of accomplishment and all too soon it was all over
I started out teaching, helping shape and mold young boys.
And then I made a radical shift to detailing and pushing drugs to doctors.
But I still managed to teach on the side.
Then, I tried my hand at gathering, processing and disseminating medical information.
Then, I was challenged to manage the delivery of healthcare services.
Then, I was consulted to help health organizations and medical institutions
become more effective and efficient in achieving their goals.
Then, it was all over.
All along the way there was one truth that kept coming back to me.
There is a certain Presence that was showing my the way.
Everything that happened to me, many unexpected and beyond expectations,
was a gift from that Presence that was my guide.
The truth is I did not deserve any of the things that came my way:
My life, my talents, the opportunities, the people who gave me love and support,
the people who inspired me and molded me,
the situations that showed me what I could do,
the events that bought out the best in me.
And yet these gifts have been heaped on me, full to the brim and overflowing.
These are the truths in my life.
And my life has been much richer and much fuller
than I could have ever imagined as a boy of ten from Angeles.
Because of all the love I have been given, I want to give back even more than I received.
Because of all the blessings in my life, I want and try to be a blessing to others.
Because my cup of life is running over, I want to share this cup with as many as I can.
Because I have enjoyed God’s love and mercy, this I want to be to others too.
This is how I want to live my life.
Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.
Thomas said to him,
“Master, we do not know where you are going;
how can we know the way?”
Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.
If you know me, then you will also know my Father.
From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
John 14:1-7