That nonsense aside, my professor’s compliment still means something to me, but teaching wasn’t my calling. The potential was there. Now
that potential has passed. Our denomination now has several female religion
department professors teaching in its universities.
This example shows how our lives are built on choices: some
that we make for ourselves, some that others make for us, and some that are
determined by circumstance. Every choice entails a decision to pursue one path
of potential while rejecting others. Sometimes we find opportunities to pursue rejected
paths at a later date; sometimes we do not.
Limitations
My mother recently told me something about her dad, my
grandfather. His father was much older than his mother and was ready to retire
from work when my grandfather was still in high school. But the family needed a
source of income to replace what my great-grandfather had been earning. To
solve the problem, my great-grandfather forced my grandfather to drop out of
school and go to work.
But my grandfather’s hobbies reveal he had a lot of
potential that could have been cultivated with further education. He loved
chess and other games of strategy. (He taught me to play checkers but refused
to let me win.) He collected, memorized, and recited poetry. He saved historic
headlines from newspapers and taught his grandchildren the history that he had
experienced firsthand. He was a master gardener, too. I have no doubt my
grandfather could have been a college professor or a writer or a scientist or
anything else he may have wanted to be had he been allowed to complete his
education.
My grandfather also loved running. Before he dropped out of
school, he was on the high school track team. He loved to tell stories of
racing Louis Zamperini at district events. He always lost, but he bragged that when
Zamperini was the fastest man alive, he was the second fastest because he only ever
lost to Zamperini. Grandpa had potential as a runner, but someone else had more
potential. Grandpa’s potential could only take him so far.
My potential as a runner went untested. Before I knew about
my grandfather’s track history, I participated in a track meet in my P.E. class
in junior high. No one had ever coached me, so I took off running as fast as I
could go. I was way ahead until the very end of the race when my body forced me
to slow down, allowing two classmates to pass me at the last moment. My
teacher, the high school track coach, yelled at me and told me I should have
known to pace myself. I had to ask someone else what that meant.
Looking back on that day, I wonder if I may have had the
potential to follow in my grandfather’s footsteps. I also think that if my
teacher had known about my grandfather racing Zamperini, he might have paid more
attention to my potential instead of scaring me away. To this day, I love
running for fun and keeping in shape, but any potential I may have had to
become a track star is long gone. What potential was there went unrealized
because no one knew to look for it.
Life Lived
As I think about all of this, however, I know that what
matters is not what potential has gone unrealized, but what’s been accomplished
with potential we nurtured and grew. My grandfather did not become a scholar or
world-class runner, but he did raise a family. He did pass on his love of
poetry, physical activity, and gardening. His descendants are teachers,
writers, gardeners, and athletes. Grandpa’s legacy is alive. He would be proud.
I’m proud of him.
Future Hope
Furthermore, his descendants love to imagine him gardening
in heaven, maybe even working side by side with the Savior Himself. Maybe he goes
on morning runs with Zamperini or collaborates with Gerard Manley Hopkins on
new poems for their King. Our God-given potential on this earth may be limited
by time, choice, and circumstance, but thanks to Jesus, we have all of eternity
in God’s Presence to explore all the wonders God has for us there. Death is not
the end. It’s the beginning of so much more.
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