At the risk of moving from “that packaging guy Eric is good for a monthly giggle” to “that packaging guy Eric is a little too serious for my liking”, I think I’m going to use my 2018 monthly blogs to write about matters that…well…matter.
Please don’t unsubscribe just yet. Maybe you’d at least be willing to read my January attempt to change the world.
My oldest son Nate (who is far smarter than I) has introduced me to an old concept called Occam’s razor. This theory simply states that among competing hypotheses, the one with the fewest assumptions should be selected. It is an argument to side with the simple.
Here is my extremely simple hypothesis about solving the world’s complex problems which appear to be creating historical divisions inside what we still call the United States of America:
I’m convinced that selfishness is ultimately to blame for most, if not all, of the world’s woes.
Convicted of this, I so badly want to use the balance of my life (my bride will tell you I’m so old that I can’t have that many years remaining) to put an end to my own selfishness and to teach and inspire others to put an end to their own self-centeredness.
On the surface, it seems impossible to do this while focusing so much of my daily energy on running this business we call Specialty Box & Packaging. Daily, while at my desk, I whisper a prayer to the God in Whom I believe. It sounds something like this:
“I really enjoy what I’m doing. I’m uncomfortably comfortable. If there is something else You’d have for me then please show me so that I can be more than just a bystander in the conflict which puts so many at odds with one another.”
Perhaps my new direction for this monthly blog is an attempt to see if I can both lead Specialty Box & Packaging and be involved in a much greater good.
Two separate interactions (one with a beloved customer and one with a cherished vendor) allow me to hold out hope that this could be true.
Around the end of 2017 I enjoyed two, dare I say, miraculous arguments. Relatively significant amounts of money were involved in each dispute.
In both cases my “opponent” was trying to keep more money in the pocket of Specialty Box while I was trying to force more money into the bank accounts of each respective vendor and customer.
My customer, just like my vendor, was looking out for my interests more than its own. Conversely, I was looking out for the interest of my customer and of my vendor above the interest of Specialty Box.
Calling this a miracle may be overstating the case but I really don’t know what else to call it. Dare I say authentic love? Might authentic love, in and of itself, be miraculous?
The New Testament presents an extremely simple yet profoundly difficult solution for selfishness. I believe these directions, if honored, would solve the world’s woes.
Here is a passage from Philippians chapter 2 verses 3.
“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves.”
Simply put right?
Regard one another as more important than yourselves!
This is bold instruction which is, practically speaking, foreign in our world.
There is SO MUCH MORE to say about what follows in this Philippians passage but I’m going to stop right here (though if you care to hear more then please just send a reply and I’ll be happy to expound further).
Doesn’t our nation cry out for a movement which is led by people who consider others, ALL OTHERS, more important than themselves?
Such a movement feels like a pipe dream but I wish to invest my remaining days toward such an end.
Does anyone else feel similarly? I have to believe the answer is yes.
Please, if it is yes for you, let me know.