Level and Plumb!

 “Mervin, it is good that you have a word from God confirming your decision to move to Portland... But... quite a few years ago when your mother and I picked up and left for Vancouver (which is 2,300 miles west of Manitoba)... I moved and God came with me!”

  The Late and Great Grandpa, Eric Best.  1920-2006

Dear Caden,        

Great Grandpa's Surveyors Transit
Can you say level and plumb? 

The tool I’m giving you today is a solid brass Surveyor Transit and it belonged to your Great Grandpa, Eric Best, before he gave it to me. I’m told its significant history began almost 150 years ago when it was used by the men of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) to survey the newly discovered train route through the Canadian Rockies. This link was critical for British Columbia (BC) as it had recently become the newest province... and a very rich addition to Canada’s commonwealth of natural resources and budding commercial opportunities!

As the story goes, just after the Second World War, my dad had purchased the transit from someone who had previously bought the very one from the very person who owned it during those early CP years... and now, for a few hundred dollars and a renewed optimism, your Great Grandfather Eric learned how to master the use of the transit and used it throughout his construction career.

At least, that the info that my father (your Great Grandfather) relayed to me a few years before he went to be with Jesus... 

I remember being impressed watching just how my dad knew how to make it perform... He’d give one knob a turn to the right and another a twist to the left, until he found something called level and plumb...  

My brother Gary was with our dad during his final days of passage... Dad was not a large man, but pound for pound, had a wirey tensil strength beyond anyone I knew.  But now, before Gary's eyes, lay a mere shell of the man we had known growing up...

My dear dad and mum (Canadian for mom)

Dad could barely see now, had difficulty talking, breathing was laborious, and he was in much visible pain.... so, my brother asked the obvious question... "How you doing, Dad?"

Dad, now savoring the sweetness of the world he was about to re-enter, turned back this last time to answer... like being awoken from the greatest dream of your life to be reminded to take your 2am sleeping pill... (and yet, responding without any hint of annoyance.)

Dad simply raised his head, gave a thumbs up, and scratched out... "It's going GREAT!  This is the BEST day of my life!!!"
Later that night, he died...

When Eric Best (who had been given no middle name) finally took his last breath in January 2006, he joyfully exchanged this present monochrome life for the technicolor one he had so briefly experienced.

A few weeks before his death in January of 2006, I asked my father what advice he had for me and the world...

And, in the sometimes squeaky, low German accent he was often known for during his latter years, he gave this sage advice...

     1) ALWAYS FORGIVE... never hold a grudge, no matter what the circumstances,

     2) ALWAYS TELL THE TRUTH... be honest in everything, no matter if it benefits you or not! 

The simple and sound advice of a man few people knew well... but to those who knew him well, as I was privileged to, it's the best level and plumb advice I could give you.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. 
Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives."”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭12:1-6‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Caden, you and I are following some great men of faith... and, my dad... your Great Grandpa Best... is one I’ve come to respect and honor most! 

Finish strong Caden, finish strong!

Love,

Grandpa Best...   (aka Grandpa MERV)

PS It all goes by so fast!