Tuesday, June 18, 2019
So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. Ephesians 5:15-17
My Dad
would’ve been 101 today. He was only a
few years short of making it to triple digits when God decided there was a need
in heaven for a laughter-loving, corny-joke-telling guy. Elwood Frederick Brownworth (Slim, for short),
wasn’t a dry wit; rather he was someone who made use of that bottomless pit of
Readers Digest stories and quips. Born
into a generation that saw the end of World War I, the Great Depression, and World
War II, my Dad had to leave school after the 6th grade in 1930
to pick up work here and there to help support
a 7-member household. In those days you
did what you could just to keep food on the table.
But
exiting from the traditional school system didn’t mean he stopped
learning. Indeed, when he retired he
went back to school, earning his GED. And
what he lacked in formal education he learned to replace by informal
means. Dad loved to travel and find out what
made things tick. He loved to put his
knowledge of learned skills to use, teaching others. When I was a pre-teen, Dad took a course to
become a certified bowling instructor so he could organize children and youth
bowling leagues. Every Saturday morning
our family would begin the day opening the bowling center…an old, smelly 10-lane
place called Carlton Lanes, complete with a bar (which I never was permitted to
enter). We’d be there 6 hours or more
while nearly 100 kids spent a week’s worth of pent-up energy from all that schoolwork,
at noise levels approaching 140 decibels.
And, right in the center of the tornado of activity you’d find Slim, laughing
and making corny jokes.
It’s
coming up on 4 years since Dad left us to join Mom and many friends and family
in God’s forever place. Dad didn’t leave
behind a truckload of stuff, or a bunch of land, or financial wealth. Instead, our family treasures are the example
of a Godly husband and father, what it’s like to be faithful, and a person who
loves with his life’s commitments, and his word kept. We have a legacy of attending church because
we knew there was more to life than just stuff that pleases you.
Somehow,
my Dad, who didn’t have a knack for remembering Scripture, had learned to live
what the apostle encouraged in his letter to the church folk at Ephesus…not to
be fools, but understanding what God wanted them to do. Dad loved to laugh and tell a joke to
brighten up everyone’s day. It wasn’t
foolishness, it was his understanding that some are evangelists, some teachers
and pastors….but some are called to live a life bringing light with wit, humor,
and a knack for being there when the chips were down.
It’s hard
to sum up a life in a few words, but some people live their lives in such an
uncomplicated way that you really can get at the heart of the depth of their
legacy in simple terms. My father was
one like that. And here are the words
that come to me this day:
They called him Slim, but that was his body;
his life
was full!
For You Today
When it’s all
done, what will people remember about you?
If you’re talking about the people closest to you in life it will probably
be little about your job, or your accomplishments. I’m thinking it will be more how you loved them
with your life opened to what mattered most to them.
Go to VIDEO
[1] Title Image: Pixabay.com
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture
quotations are from The New Living Translation©
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