Until Now (By Dennis Kuhl)

A while back I was asked if I would be interested in writing a Monday Message. I have thought about this many times but never took the time to do it… until now!

I recently gave a commencement speech to the 2018 graduating class of Mihaylo College of Business and Economics at California State University Fullerton. I agonized over what inspirational thing I could say. I was honored, but kind of scared. I then thought of something Alexander the Great once said, which I think about all the time.

Before dying, Alexander the Great said to his generals, I have 3 wishes. Please carry them out without fail. The generals all agreed to abide by the King’s wishes.

• My first wish. I want only the best physicians alone to carry my coffin.
• My second wish. That the path leading to my grave be covered with gold, silver and precious stones.
• The third and last wish. That both my hands be kept dangling out of my coffin.

The generals said they would carry out his wishes, but he must enlighten them as to why. Alexander the Great replied as follows: 1. I want the best physicians to carry my coffin because people should realize they are powerless, because even the best physicians cannot save a person from the clutches of death. 2. That gold, silver and precious stones on the path to the grave yard is to let people know that I spent my life accumulating riches yet not even one grain of gold will accompany me. I want people to understand that it is a sheer waste of time, energy and peace of mind to yearn to be rich. 3. That my hands dangling out of the coffin are because I want people to know that I came into the world empty handed and likewise, will go out empty handed.

Time is the most precious of all treasures because it is limited. We can produce more wealth, but we cannot produce more time. When we give someone our time, we actually give away a portion of our life that we will never get back. May you have plenty of time and more importantly, may you have the wisdom to give it away!

I said I did not have time. 

But to what did I give my time… 

and was it a fair exchange?

~ Muriel Strode

Expressions of Love

There is an old saying that goes “things happen in threes”. I’m not sure where that saying comes from, but it popped into my head while I was relaxing on the beach this weekend, reading a book called, “The Shack”.

The Shack is a story about a man trying to come overcome feelings of guilt when his young daughter is brutally murdered. But in reality, it’s more of an inspirational story about God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit and how all three members of this holy trinity interact with us.  I hate to admit it, but I don’t completely understand how the holy trinity works because how can God be three different beings? But then again, there are a lot of things in this world I don’t understand, like politics, taxes, and women for example.

But as I pondered the idea of things happening in threes, I realized something. There is a common thread that runs through the holy trinity. That common thread of course is… love! God created love, Jesus taught us how to love, and the Holy Spirit is the essence of love. So love should obviously be the guiding force in our lives. But that realization brought another question to mind. If love is supposed to be our guiding force, what’s the best way for us to express our love?  

Well, sometimes when I’m struggling with a question, I go for a walk to clear my head. In less than 15 minutes, my journey yesterday quickly turned up three awesome but very different examples of expressions of love. Hey, maybe things really do happen in threes!

A caring woman takes time to converse with a homeless man.

A father takes his daily walk along Beach Road with his crippled son.

A man carries his very old and very sick, but very good friend for a final walk along the beach.

A man is not where he lives, but where he loves.

~ Ancient Latin Proverb