Sacrifices and Self-Reflection
What are you studying or sacrificing that will benefit the next generation?
I wrote the following essay ten years ago. The John Adams quote still rattles around in my head from time to time as I work on my books. Doing so feels like such a privilege, but having that freedom also makes me want to make sure I’m doing my part for the next generation.
“Do you need a right-handed or a left-handed door?”
“Let’s go with right-handed.”
“Do you need shims?”
“Shims?”
“To help secure the door frame.”
“Well, I have a guy who is hanging it for me.”
“He’ll probably need them. If he doesn’t get it aligned properly, ask for your money back and come back to the store to get some shims.”
“I’ll just take the shims right now.”
“How about door hangers?”
“Door hangers?”
“They help align the door.”
At this point, the Menards employee knew he was dealing with a guy who had no earthly idea what he was doing. He placed the door hangers (which look like brackets) on the door frame and tried to explain how to use them. I had no idea what he was talking about, but I took the door hangers anyway.
“How about paint?”
“Isn’t the door already painted?”
“It’s primed.”
“No paint. A primed door is good enough.”
On my way home, I couldn’t help but wonder how my grandfather, who lived through the Great Depression and could fix anything, would have reacted to my lack of hardware knowledge. Then I remembered a quote from the John Adams HBO miniseries.
When Adams (portrayed by Paul Giamatti) arrived in Paris to ask the French for naval support of the American cause, he found a culture he was unfamiliar with – one much slower and more engaged in the arts. Over a meal, he is asked about music, and his response is thought-provoking.
“I must study politics and war, you see, so that my sons will have the liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. My sons must study navigation, commerce and agriculture so that their children will have the right to study painting and poetry and music.”
I’ve since learned that the quote comes from a letter that Adams wrote to his wife and it is pretty close to the on-screen adaption. Here’s the original quote: “I must study politics and war, that our sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. Our sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history and naval architecture, navigation, commerce and agriculture in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry and porcelain.”
My grandfather was on the front end of this spectrum in my family. He studied finance and repair, so his sons would have the liberty to study genealogy and photography. His sons studied sales and management so their sons, including me, would have the right to study literature and writing.
This is not lost on me.
When a generation stops thinking about, appreciating and building on the sacrifices of the previous generation, we become self-absorbed. But when we build on the sacrifices of previous generations, it gives us a chance to live beyond ourselves.
I have a feeling my grandfather wouldn’t be disappointed in my visit to Mendards. Instead, he would smile about the fact that his sacrifices allowed me to become a writer. But he would also want to make sure I’m not taking my liberty for granted, and he would want to make sure I’m studying something for the next generation so they will have the freedom to pursue something they love.
He’s been gone for nearly 40 years, but I can still hear the question he might ask me: What are you studying or sacrificing that will benefit the next generation?
I would tell him technology. I’m not crazy about learning new technology. In fact, sometimes I find it maddening. But in the same manner in which he was able to teach himself how to repair lawnmower and dryer engines so he could fix appliances in my family, I have a knack for learning technology and then passing that information along to loved ones, which I hope empowers them in some small way.
How about you? I would love to hear about the sacrifices the people made in your family that allowed you the freedom to pursue what you love. And then tell me what you are doing for the generation behind you.
June Spotlight: The First Book in the Cricket Springs Series
Sawyer Brice has moved on from the secret she kept from her first love. She set him free ten years ago to find what he really wanted. She has a successful business and a boyfriend who treats her well. What more could she want?
Cash Langston left Cricket Springs, Nebraska, ten years ago, promising himself he would never return after Sawyer broke his heart with no explanation. He went on to pursue a travel writing career and found contentment.
When Sawyer’s mother, Norma, dies, everything changes. Wanting to pay his final respects to the woman who meant so much to Cash when he was dating Sawyer, he returns to Cricket Springs for her funeral and comes face to face with Sawyer, and ultimately, her stubborn refusal to reveal her secret.
When a job opportunity in Denver opens up, Cash plans to accept it. Will Sawyer finally reveal the truth and get a second chance with him? Or will Cash leave Cricket Springs, never to return?
Here are some tidbits you might find interesting this week:
In his book Welcome to the Circus of Baseball, Ryan McGee uses the phrase “reverse snowbirds” to describe people who flee Florida every summer because it’s too hot and live in the mountains of North Carolina temporarily to stay cool. If I could, I would so be a reverse snowbird.
Here’s an interesting article by someone who swapped her phone screen time for reading time.
That article mentions an app called Bookly that I’m currently using to track my reading habits. Here’s an article about someone who did so for a year using that app.
Last week, I mentioned the possibility of maybe choosing a group of friends to enter a nursing home with when the time comes. I recorded a short YouTube video this week about the same topic.
When Lee isn’t writing essays, devotional books, or Christian fiction, he is a freelance editor, as well as a freelance journalist who has written hundreds of articles for various newspapers and magazines. He’s also a fan of NASCAR, baseball, tennis, books, movies and coffee shops.