Thursday; October 19

On Wednesday; October 19, 1977, the Southern Rock band, Lynyrd Skynyrd played the Greenville (South Carolina) Memorial Auditorium. You could get tickets for $6.25. For many who attended, it was probably a great concert – but, it would become even more memorable because it was the last concert many of the founding members of the band would play together. On October 20, the band would board a plane heading to Baton Rouge, Louisiana – but the plane wouldn’t make it through Mississippi. The plane crash killed Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines and his sister Cassie in addition to three other people. Over the next few decades many of the injured band members would recover and the band would be reimagined, but Skynyrd would never be the same.

As I reflect on this day in history two things come to mind. The first one is that you never know what tomorrow will bring. As the band packed up that night, I imagine they all assumed their next show would be at Louisiana State University the next night, but it never happened. Are we prepared for today’s activities to be our final curtain call in this life? Yet, there is something even more poignant in that show. According to a report I read, the final song was Free Bird. The first line in that song is, “If I leave here tomorrow would you still remember me?”. Very few of us will be as famous at the members of the band, but we all have relationships in life – how will those people remember us? Have we done what we can do to make the most of the opportunities we have been given to influence those around us? Who will remember us and maybe even more importantly, how will we be remembered?

Let’s make the most of the lives and the relationships we have here and now. Today is the only day to do anything because yesterday is a merely a memory and tomorrow is just a dream!

Think About It!

Popular posts from this blog

Tuesday; November 29

The biblical story of the Good Samaritan has changed our world. Notice I didn’t say that it had change religion or even Christianity, it has influenced the world. There are very few people who don’t know the moral of Jesus’ parable about the Good Samaritan. In fact, the phrase has become a common description of everyday people doing good to their neighbors. While Jesus’ parable from Luke 10 shares several spiritual lessons, one of the most practical is that good can be done by anyone. You don’t have to be a church official to do good, it is not only possible for each one of us to help, it is required of all of us. If a Samaritan can be good, so can we! After presenting the parable, Jesus asked the man who had originally asked the question about being a good neighbor which character in the story was a good neighbor, “… he said, ‘The one who showed mercy toward him.’” at which point, the discussion from theoretical to personal, “Then Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do the same.’” (Luke
Read more

Thursday; January 12

The other day I was watching a television show that used a rather common term applied to overcoming challenges. When organizations experience unexpected setbacks – especially when they lose key people – they rely upon the concept of “Next Man Up”. In essence, when our starters (or stars) go down, effective organizations rely upon their next levels to step into the vacancy. While this is an effective response, have we given much thought as to how we prepare to be the “next people up”? First, we must know our job. Even when we aren’t the primary players, we need to be preparing ourselves to be ready when we get the opportunity to shine. Second, we must do our best when we get the chance. Knowledge is important but what turns potential into talent is effort. Yet, maybe the most underappreciated aspect of this concept is a willingness avoid excuse-making and whining about the unfairness of our situation. When we complain about the circumstances that caused the need for replacements
Read more

Monday; September 25

When I was a youngster, I remember hearing about this thing called the Generation Gap. I was a little bit too young to be active in the social movements of the 1960s, but I do remember listening to the challenges the generations were experiencing way back then. Interestingly, now that I have been on both sides of the aging process, I have to admit that the Gap of the 1960s was nothing new. With the development of each generation comes conflict. The young people don’t feel like the older people understand them and the older folks tend to believe their input is being underappreciated. Too often trust is the casualty when two generations collide. The sad thing is that it doesn’t have to be this way. When we can capture the innovation and energy of the younger folks and harness the wisdom of those who have been around for a while we can develop a winning combination. No, we won’t always see things eye-to-eye nor will we necessarily speak the same emotional language, but when we app
Read more