When we use words to try to describe someone that is truly special or has had a phenomenal impact on our lives, sometimes words just don’t cut it.
Is a legend a legend only because of what they do or because of who they are at their core?
This week, a man I would consider a legend in the truest sense of the word passed away after a long battle with cancer. Ernie Harwell was known best for his work as an announcer for the Detroit Tigers baseball team and his boundless energy. But, the one trait for me that takes him to an even higher status is that he was a man of faith that, by all appearances, was not only a Christian in name only, but in practice as well.
One of my favorite quotes that he made happened just this past year in October of 2009. He was at a book launch event, put on by noted columnist and author, Mitch Albom as he debuted his book Have a Little Faith. I think it was one of his last public appearances. In that interview, Harwell made a statement that really hit my right between the eyes. Albom, who is a great interviewer in my view, lobbed a floater up for Ernie to hit out of the park by asking him specifically about his faith.
In his classic, unassuming way, Mr. Harwell explained it simply and amazingly at the same time, “It’s a great blessing, in my final days, to know where I am going, whose arms I am going to end up in and what a great, great thing heaven is going to be.”
To a person, every interview I have heard and every conversation I have had with anyone that interacted with Ernie was similar. They all felt impacted by what he did in the broadcast booth, but even more by who he was as a person.
Here are two questions, how strong is your faith and assurance of what you believe and when you hear of the cumulative impact of someone like this, what do you want your legacy to be?
Photo Credit: http://aggman.vox.com/
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