THE LEGACY WE LEAVE

President's Message By
Frank L. VanderSloot
President & CEO

November 2006

As I write this message I am sitting in a beautiful villa in Athens, Greece. We are at President’s Club, where we took this year’s top performers to celebrate their leadership and success. This year we have with us Corporate Director V Ed Bestoso, Executive Directors V Myrtice and Kevin Smith, Executive Directors V Gwen and Ledell Miles, Executive Directors IV Beth and Russ Schomp, Executive Directors IX Michelle and Lance Smith, Executive Directors VIII Charleen and Mark Tajiri, Executive Directors VI Rafael and Monica Rojas, Executive Directors II Yolanda and Kevin Harris, Executive Director II Denise Goodman, Corporate Directors III Kim and Gary Cherveny, and Corporate Directors II Rebecca and Chip Connor.

This is my second time to visit Greece. The first time was also for President’s Club some 15 years ago. I have different feelings this time and different observations. Fifteen years ago I was struck by the thousands of years of history in this land, ruins and sculptures and art from over 2,500 years ago. It boggles the mind to think of how they built these great cities and great monuments with the technology that existed 2,500 years ago (that is 500 years BC). An age inferior to our time, it produced art, sculpture and buildings that rival, and in some ways, surpass the creations of today.

That’s what struck me on my first visit here. But this time, I am 15 years older and I come here with different paradigms and a whole new realization: 2,500 years is about 125 generations. No matter how you look at it, it is a long time, and a lot of people have come and gone since then.

Cities have been built on top of cities. When they built the subway in
Athens, everywhere they dug, they dug up ruins from previous civilizations because the city of Athens has been built on top of the ruins of other cities. In fact, no one dares add on to or rebuild their homes here because almost every shovel full of dirt will contain “antiquities” i.e. portions of previous civilizations which are protected by law and which you are legally obligated to report immediately. And of course when you report it, the government will show up and do an investigation, which always results in shutting down the construction project.

The first time I visited Athens 15 years ago my thoughts traveled to questions like, “How did they do this?” “How, so long ago, did they have the technology to build something so magnificent?” But this year, I wonder not “how,” but “by who?” “Who were they?” “What drove them?” “What did they believe in?” “Why did they do this?”

The thing that strikes me the hardest is that they left evidence of their existence but not of their real lives. It occurs to me that millions have come and gone in this very city who we know nothing about. They all have individual stories that we will never hear. It’s a shame really. It’s a shame that no records of their individual lives have been kept. We know that some of them had a great influence on our society. For example, the Greeks created the first democracy. Many of the principles that they used in their original government we use today in the American government.

There are other things that we have learned from their culture and from their teachings. Many of the great philosophers were from Greece. Much of our culture has been impacted because of what those philosophers taught.
Many great men have visited Athens over the centuries. Yesterday, we stood on a hill where the Apostle Paul taught the Athenians the Gospel of Christ. It is believed that he did not have much success here. There is no evidence in the Bible that he ever wrote a letter to the Athenians. But his having been here begs the question, “How many other great men have passed this way?” “Where is their record?” “Where is their Story?” “Who were they?” “What did they believe in?” “What did they teach?” Of millions who have lived here over the centuries, we only have the records of a very few.

This has caused me to come to the realization once again that our life on earth is very short. We, too, will be gone all too quickly. Other generations will come after us. The question comes to mind, “What will we leave these future generations?” “How will the world be different because we were here?” “Will we leave only the physical evidence that we existed because of the homes and buildings and cities that we built, or will we leave future generations something more meaningful than that?”

I suspect that how we live our lives will have a bigger impact on our children and therefore on future generations than the buildings or cities that we build. I suspect doing good for one another and teaching our children noble principles will do much more good for future generations than any architecture or monuments.

Although the physical evidence of our existence will vanish soon or just a few centuries after we are gone, I suspect the things that we teach our children will be passed on for generation after generation. Our names and our stories and even our lives will soon be forgotten, but the principles that we teach our children will be found through the eternities. The eternal and universal principles of honesty, integrity, kindness, forgiveness, courage, work ethic, humility, spirituality, charity, love, and faith will endure for centuries and millennia.

The world has need of these universal principles and it always will. I believe that the best evidence that we can leave of our lives is our example in these things. To the degree that we can do that, we will leave the world a better place. And our influence will have a larger impact on future generations than all of the buildings we will ever build.

Sincerely,

Frank

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