Faith4Business

Photo via The Shack

In the book "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand, Louie Zamperini writes a letter to his captor who beat him daily for two years, Mutsuhiro Watanabe.  This is an amazing example of how those that know forgiveness also know how to give it.

To Mutsuhiro Watanabe,

As a result of my prisoner war experience under your unwarranted and unreasonable punishment, my post-war life became a nightmare. It was not so much due to the pain and suffering as it was the tension of stress and humiliation that caused me to hate with a vengeance.

Under your discipline, my rights, not only as a prisoner of war but also as a human being, were stripped from me. It was a struggle to maintain enough dignity and hope to live until the war's end.

The post-war nightmares caused my life to crumble, but thanks to a confrontation with God through the evangelist Billy Graham, I committed my life to Christ. Love has replaced the hate I had for you. Christ said, "Forgive your enemies and pray for them."

As you probably know, I returned to Japan in 1952 and was graciously allowed to address all the Japanese war criminals at Sugamo Prison… I asked then about you, and was told that you probably had committed Hara Kiri, which I was sad to hear. At that moment, like the others, I also forgave you and now would hope that you would also become a Christian.

Louis Zamperini

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, by Laura Hillenbrand, Random House, 2010, pp. 396-97.

Failure in life and in business happens. It is a part of the game. Many times what we at first thought was a great idea eventually turns out not to be. The only thing about failure that will define us is how we choose to deal with it. Failure can be a healthy part of the trial and error learning process. Failure can help show us what we really want. However, failure never happens when our motives are properly aligned with God's will. That's right, because what we might think is a failure today may in fact be apart of a his grander plan. A plan that we do not yet have the ability to see.

Recently, I interviewed for a position within my company and my reason for interviewing was that I thought this position would offer me new insights into our business and broaden my base of knowledge and experience. And, had I gotten thw job it might have. As it turns out I didn't get the position and while I was disappointed I quickly realized that maybe there is a reason that I cannot see today that this was not the right job for me. I don't know this to be true today, but I also don't know that it is not true. Therefore, I move forward and again get focused on the positive possibilities of tomorrow that are soon to come.

There have been other disappointments during my career and some that I have not handled as graceful as this one. But of recent I have a saying or thought that I tell myself over and over. Sometimes it takes weeks of saying this phrase before I can begin to see my life from a grander prospective than just my narrow view of today. It is as follows: "When my motives are honest and not self seeking. There is a future before me that has yet to unfold, in which, God will bring glory to his name thru me." I am not exactly sure where it came from I think it has evolved from several quotes or thoughts I have read and heard over the years. It has helped me tremendously and I hope you find it useful as well.
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Know Retirement

Over the last several years my retirement dreams have changed.  For a long time I thought that my nirvana in the golden years would be to own an off shore sport fisherman boat and run a part-time fishing charter service somewhere off the coast of Florida.  However, this is changing after being plagued by a recent memory.  Instead I have begun to think of how I could serve in some type of role to feed and house the poor. Thus, serving the ultimate missionary role of giving to others.

The memory that is driving this desire is of a moment just a little over a year ago.  I keep replaying it in my head almost like a reoccurring dream. The memory itself is easy to describe with regard to what happened. But how I feel about it is difficult for me to narrow down.  When my Father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer a little over a year ago I knew he did not have long to live.  In the weeks that followed I witnessed a rapid decline in both his physical and mental health.  It was near the end of his struggle while he was justifiably medicated for pain that the phone rang.  After the second ring, my Father, in his state of delirium mumbled, "John Jacobs, XYZ Insurance."   When this happened as I recall I responded in a comforting voice, “It’s okay Dad, we have it taken care of.”  This seemed to pacify him for the time and he went back to a restful state.  To most this would not be a memorable event but to me it was. The reason is because you had to know my Father to appreciate how dedicated to his work he was.  A big part of me is incredibly proud of how he was relentless in desire to keep his commitments. Even in a semi conscious state he was revealing how much time and effort he had put into being at work.  The troubling part of this memory is that while I am proud of the man my Father was, it also makes me sad.  I find it unsettling that his mind was still so focus on such trivial matters as work.  I feel guilty saying it, like I am somehow betraying him, but it is true. Obviously, I was sad that he was in a hopeless battle for his physical life that would soon end.  But the real sadness from this memory comes from the fact that his subconscious footprint was focused on work.  We all say that life is not about work.  I know that my Father did not want his life to be about work either.  And, I don’t believe it was.  But he did live by a relentless commitment to be accountable for what he saw as his responsibilities. 

He never retired.  Simply put he never made it there.  He had a plan to retire although he often joked that he had no desire to retire.  In the end he was actually three months away from retirement. 

Deep down I find this memory troubling because in my dying days I do not want my subliminal utterances to reference work or my career. I am pretty sure my Father would not have wanted it either, but they were.  I know we do not necessarily get to control those things.  I am sure that nurses and caretakers of the dying would tell you that many unfortunate things are said by the dying.  What I do know is that as a result I want to try to fill my life with something more than work.  I want to stop running for the mirage of retirement and live my hearts desires today. Most say that God and Family come first and then we head off into our seventy and eighty hour workweeks never living out what we would want our life to be. Never living day-by-day those things that will drive our subconscious mind when we are no longer able.  I want to stop waiting for a day that may never come and serve God now.  I can no longer wait until retirement because it may never come.