It’s been seven years this week since George P. Nornes left this earth, and sometimes it seems like just yesterday.  He was an amazing man, husband, father, teacher, and God’s faithful servant.

Dad used to travel to different churches as a lay preacher.  The presentation I remember most is based on an essay written by Bert V. Dunne in 1945, “Don’t Die on Third.” 

This posting is written in my Dad’s memory.

It was the early 1900’s.  A baseball game.  Detroit  vs. Cleveland.  Bottom of the ninth, tied score, two outs.  George Moriarty was on third base for the Tigers. 

Moriarty had two choices.  He could wait to see if the batter got a hit and then run for home base.  (If the batter missed, the inning would be over without a score. Even with a hit, the runner could be thrown out at first.)  Or, Moriarty could reach the plate on his own efforts.

Moriarty didn’t want to be stranded at third base.  He wanted to score.  He didn’t want his run to be left in the fate of someone else.  So he watched the pitcher’s wind-up to get the timing just right, and then took off to steal home plate.  He used his skills, experience, and desire to win, to reach home.  And he was safe.

It’s a good thing he did.  The batter missed the ball.

Moriarty wouldn’t have scored if he’d depended on the batter.  He made it happen.  In the few seconds that it took to slide into home plate, a point was scored–on the scoreboard in the outfield, and more importantly, in Moriarty’s internal book of success.

You’re moving around the baseball diamond in your own career right now.  Or in your job search.  You had a good hit, your teammates (network/colleagues) have moved you around the bases, and you’re one base away from scoring.  But you’re worn out.  You’re on third base and nothing is happening.  No interview, no promotion, no change in your boss. You’re tired.  

You have two choices: wait for someone else to do something for you, or make it happen for yourself.

Your choice determines your future.  It influences how you think and feel about yourself.  It creates your character.

Don’t quit now.  Don’t give up.  Keep studying the play book.  Learn from your coaches.  Watch for the opportunity.  You will never regret staying in the game.  You will regret quitting.

Don’t die on third.

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These ridges, lines, and grooves leave a trail.  They tell a story.  They point out where we’ve been, and how we’ve spent our time. 

There’s another kind of fingerprints.  The kind that can’t be seen in the dust or in smudges.  No piece of equipment showcased on CSI will discover them.

They’re the fingerprints we find on our hearts.  Left by people who have touched our lives. They also tell a story.  Stories about the people who left them, and how those fingerprints changed us.

I’m sure that each of us has fingerprints on our hearts that represent sad times.  Hard times.  Times when we felt like our energy and life was being squeezed out of that muscle by large, rough, uncaring hands.

And we have fingerprints left behind by caring hands that held our tired hearts and gently pumped oxygen and life back into them.

Today I am mindful of the fingerprints left on my heart by people who cared, loved, and made me a better person.  People whose lives I have recently celebrated in their deaths.  My uncle Harold Nornes, my friend Mabel Koppang, and my pastor and teacher Harold Brokke. 

These three people have left this earth, but their fingerprints can be found all over the world in the hearts and souls of the people they’ve touched.  Their lives continue.  Their legacy is forever.  I am grateful.

We make choices every day about how we treat each other.  We change hearts and lives through our words and behavior.  We leave imprints.  Fingerprints.

What stories do your fingerprints tell?  What legacy are you leaving?

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