Post Mortem Return On Investment

Jack was born in 1895 in New Jersey.  He died in California in 1981.  In 1941, as the United States approached entering World War 2 Jack offered a strange proposal to the United States War Department.  The problem was if Germany defeated Great Britain the US would have to fight a war against Germany without any European allies.  For this problem, Jack offered a solution.  Thankfully, the British Isles did not fall.  But Jack’s proposal was so promising that the War Department kept investing.

It wasn’t till after the war that Jack’s proposal got off the ground.  With the Cold War ramping up it was believed that Jack’s amazing invention could actually be a game changer.  But there were two problems that seemed to be insurmountable.  First, the weapon was behind the times in terms of what it could do.  Second, the weapon was ahead of its time in terms of what it needed to accomplish its mission.  Jack retired from the company that bore his name in 1952.  In many ways he was heartbroken.  Despite numerous other successful projects and contributions to the US defense efforts, Jack’s beloved pet project was never realized.  

Fast forward 28 years.

In failing health and just 10 months before he died, Jack was given special secret clearance to take a peak at a very special aircraft.  John Cashen, the project designer, said, "As he held this model in his shaking hands, it was as if you could see his entire history with the flying wing passing through his mind."  The visionary was Jack Northrop and the model he held was of the B-2 Spirit Bomber.  The ultra-secret Advance Tactical Bomber or stealth bomber was first conceived by a young visionary who was about 50 years ahead of his time.  Jack Northrop died a decade before the B-2 flew, but his vision out-lasted his life.

Which causes me to ask…

What dream or vision or goal do I have that will out-last my years?  Lord willing, I have several years left, but they are not unlimited.  Someday, I will be moving again, but instead of my stuff being in boxes, I will be in the box.  When that happens what will the residual of my life be?  What is the post mortem return on investment (PMROI) going to be? 

We have a terrible tendency to not have a really long-range plan.  We may plan for the weekend, the vacation next year, retirement after career, and occasionally funeral arrangements.  Nothing wrong with that.  But what are we planning for after our funeral?  If we say, “Go to be with the Lord,” we have a great start, but that doesn’t need to be all of our answer.  Is it possible that we will have a meaningful impact on lives after we are dead?  Not only is that possible it needs to be part of our plan for how we spend our lives.  

If you have ever read something that changed your life for the better that was written by someone who has gone on to their reward, your life has been enhanced by a PMROI.  Lewis, Bonhoeffer, Luther, Campbell, Paul, had a terrific impact after their death.  The tyranny of the urgent is so great that we might have a hard time thinking about influencing the years after we are gone.  “Who has time to contemplate the distant years? I have a crisis to deal with.”

I believe it is in the instant that the future, eternity and the present merge together that we will have the greatest impact.  Maybe it will not be in writing the great novel but in listening to a little girl read the story she wrote.  It may not be composing the great praise song, but singing to or with the family of an old man in a nursing home.  It could be the design of a new, never wear out, never go flat tire, but it could be changing a flat for a single mom.  It is more likely that the PMROI will be the result of daydreaming about a new and better way to do something than reading my ramblings.  So, I suppose I should end this note.  But let me ask you to do one thing; think of a way you can make a difference after you are gone.