by Father Mark Goldasich
For people around my age, saying the words “Big Chief” at this time of year probably triggers a smile or two.
Memories of those big, reddish, “newsprint quality” writing tablets with the stoic Native American on the front will certainly come to mind. I spent countless hours writing on those wide-spaced lines learning to print the alphabet and later to write in cursive using the Palmer method.
The tablet was first mass-produced by the Western Tablet Co. in St. Joseph, Missouri, in 1906 for a nickel. Just for fun, I went to see if any were still offered by Amazon and, of course, they were. (The price was now $5.99 with a $4.99 delivery charge.) But I digress.
I’m sure that it was those tablets that made me fascinated not only with writing but also with recording memorable items. It’s a habit that persists to this day. While I no longer use a Big Chief tablet — I suppose that I’m too cheap to pay $10.98 (plus tax) for those 48 sheets of nostalgia — I continue to be on the lookout for things that intrigue me. The shorter ones, like quotes or ideas, I write down in a 6-by-8-inch spiral notebook; the longer entries, like stories, I pop in a manila folder.
The entries come from a wide variety of sources: the Scriptures, TV shows, novels, prayer books, magazines, pamphlets, spiritual reading or things heard in conversations. I write them down so that I’ll continue to be inspired or challenged by them . . . and, as I get older, so that I won’t forget them!
Since September is a time when activities in parishes intensify and volunteer drives get underway, this snippet from a letter from The Christophers charity in my files would be appropriate to ponder:
In 2019, Frank Siller was honored at a Christoper Awards ceremony. He’s the chairman and CEO of the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation, created to honor his firefighter brother Stephen who was killed rescuing people on 9/11 at the World Trade Center.
In his acceptance speech, Frank explained that his parents always modeled a spirit of giving and encouraged it in their children. He recalled his first Communion gifts when he received $26 in cash, a fortune for an 8-year-old. That night, his parents asked him, “What do you think you should do with the money? We know a very poor family that could use some help.”
Knowing his parents’ commitment to helping the poor, Frank felt scared that they’d ask him to give it all away. But they only asked him to donate $13, which left him ecstatic at the time. But here’s the point of the story. Frank explained, “I don’t remember what I did with the $13 I kept. I have never forgotten about the $13 that I gave away. And that was the lesson that was taught to me: the lesson of giving and doing for other people.”
That story and its wise advice would have been long ago lost to memory without my trusty notebook and manila folder. I’d suggest we all become students as this brand-new school year shifts into high gear by keeping our own book of memorable ideas. Why not tackle a little homework this week to get you started: Grab a notebook, open it and scribble down your first three entries.
For the record, not everything in my notebook is serious! I’ll close with a couple of these more amusing entries:
• “Contentment is when your earning power equals your yearning power.”
• Ever notice when you put the words “The” and “IRS” together it spells “Theirs”? (Wow, doesn’t this explain a lot!)
