My Dad's Sayings

1. To learn is to grow, the absence of growth is death, let’s live a little!

2. The price of your shoes should not determine the direction of your path.
   If cost is the perimeter of your destinations than slavery is the lifestyle you have chosen.

3. The well is only as deep as the bucket can reach.
   Theories can be intriguing and fun, but practicality is where life lives and thrives. The only real limitation is how far you are willing and able to reach.

4. It is all just a bunch of words unless they say something.
   Words written or said can only provide the opportunity for understanding

5. The teacher can only add to half of the learning.
   The student must accept responsibility for learning or it just won’t happen

6. It doesn’t cost anything to think, how broke are you.
   Said in a way that only a dad can make you feel.

7. Sincere compassion is measured in time not dollars.
   Money does not solve problems, neither can it truly sooth a soul.

8. Pride is a two-edged sword, be mindful on that for which you will fall.
   Pride foretells the fallen, how far is typical based on how much.

9. A swarm never knows or cares where it is headed.
   Mob appeal as a non-thinking status should not be allowed to negate shame,

10. A truly lazy man finds the way to do it just once.
    Plan, review the plan, verify the plan, execute the plan.

11. It takes more than just a hammer to build a table
    Hammers are needed, but so are other tools, a craftsman knows their tools.

12. “Didn’t think about it” is the reason not excuse for being inconsiderate.
    “Not thinking” is pretty much an indicator of ignorance.

13. Being polite is the best way to show respect, the inverse is applicable.
    Respect is best when mutual, a one-way condition is not respect.

14. Equity is how lazy people pronounce equality.
    Equity only requires an expectation, equality requires an effort.

15. Ever notice how Communist and Socialist leaders never stand in the bread lines.
    Poverty is always reserved for the servants, not the masters.

16. The terms prejudice and bigotry are color blind.
    Those practicing the terms come in all colors, shapes and sizes.

17. If you can’t defend yourself and others, how can you claim to be a pacifist?
    If it is not a choice then it really isn’t viable claim.

18. Do nothing people do not deserve to be called good, they are the evil they allow to prevail.
    If you allow it, you are it.

19. Showing up every day is a habit not an ethic.
    A good work ethic is when you do more than just the least possible to get by.

20. Gossip is always only half of the truth, and half-truths are always at least three-fourths lie.
    There is the half not being said and the quarter or more told expecting it to be believed.

21. Do it once, it could just be luck, twice it might be coincidence, a third success is needed before it can be called skill.
    If the results cannot be reliably repeated, then the results are not actually successful.

22. Challenges allow success and humility to both be of service and that opportunity is where the angels live.
    So if you have the opportunity to meet a challenge in the service of others, you will have the option for a satisfaction that can lead to contentment.

23. ​Stupid cannot be fixed and ignorance will not accept instruction
    Stupid happens when someone is too lazy to think and ignorance exist when someone refuses to acknowledge alternate information is available (both are self-imposed conditions)
    And yes, it is common for both to be present in the same individual.

24. A “one-sided coin” or gossip are both obvious counterfeits (i.e., current day authentic coins have two sides, the truth has a coincident existence as well).

25. The easiest flaws to witness are those of others while our own remain a mystery, illusive and obscured. It all boils back to the age-old struggle of splinters versus beams.

​

One last memory I will present here as my recollections have led me to the end.

My dad had a habit of saying stuff that has become far more wise the older I get. Earlier this morning I was reminded of another of his statements, in a memory I really did not want to re-visit, but I did.

​

One of the best definitions of the term “hero” that I have ever heard was when my dad said, “make yourself available to be God’s accidental instrument, and you will be a hero every time.”

​

I probably was not even 10 years old the first time I remember hearing it and had no idea what he was talking about or what he meant. I recall he said it more than once while I was growing up, but it was always one of those things that just passed by without any grasp of its intent.

​

I was 28 years old, and my dad was in a hospital bed, slowly deteriorating from pancreatic cancer, and it was literally the last night of his life. I was the only one there, it was my turn to sit. In one of his more lucid moments, he asked me, “have you had a chance to be an accidental instrument yet?” I was holding his hand and wanted my answer to be as truthful as possible and I said “dad, I never really understood what you meant.”

​

His response was labored and hard for him produce, but his determination was obvious, he felt I needed to know.

​

He used the following list to explain his intent:

I just happened to be there when someone needed a shoulder to cry on
I just happened to be there when someone just needed a hug
I just happened to be there when someone needed help picking up stuff that fell
I just happened to be there when someone needed help standing for themselves
I just happened to be there when someone was being insulted needing a defense
I just happened to be there when someone just needed someone to listen
I just happened to be there when someone weaker was being assaulted
I just happened to be there when someone needed help finding an answer
I just happened to be there when someone needed help learning what I know
I just happened to be there when something was amiss, so I fixed it
I just happened to be there when God’s purpose needed to be served and as a result I accidentally became the instrument of God’s intention, which left me looking like a hero. Typically, it is the little things that means the world to others, be a hero in that world.

​

“I get it dad; I will try harder” is what I believe I said, he smiled and sighed as if in relief. I took the opportunity to say, “I love you dad,” he responded with “I love you son,” and he closed his eyes. He later fell asleep for the last time. One more time, one more way, one more example of how my dad repeatedly throughout his life was an accidental instrument, serving God’s purpose and remaining forever my hero.