Fathers And Time

Charles Francis Adams was the United States ambassador to Great Britain during the Lincoln administration. He had the habit of keeping a daily diary. He also taught his son, Brooks, the value of journaling his activities in a diary.

One memorable day, eight-year-old Brooks recorded, "Went fishing with my father, the most glorious day of my life." It must have been, for the next forty years Brooks repeatedly mentioned it in his diary.

His father also wrote about the fishing trip. His own diary on that pivotal day for his son reads, "Went fishing with my son; a day wasted."

Did he ever know that a single day spent with Brooks may have been the most well spent day of his life? He may have felt that, as a United States ambassador, his time was extremely valuable. But history seems to show that some individual time spent with his son may have turned out to be one of his most valuable investments. Which raises the question: is there an important way you can spend some time today?

(from Life Support System, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lifesupport/
via WITandWISDOM(tm), subscribe-wit-wisdom@xc.org, via SermonFodder.com)