Emily Kimbrough was a noted traveler and writer whose hero, her beloved grandfather, once took her by train to see a bridge he was building. She was nine years old. Her exciting trip would include lunch at a famous hotel and a double chocolate soda. The train ride ended, but her grandfather lingered on board talking to the conductor.
At long last they left, and Emily impatiently said, “What could a conductor tell you that you didn’t know already?”
This is Howard Butt Jr. of Laity Lodge, and I love the grandfather’s reply.
Slightly astonished at having to explain, he said: “Why, Emily, I believe I have never met anyone who couldn’t tell me something I hadn’t known before.”
And that’s one more pleasure of … the high calling of our daily work.
“For lack of guidance a nation falls, but many advisers make victory sure.”
Proverbs 11:14
