Making A Name for Yourself

John Ortberg, in his book, When the Game is Over, It All Goes Back In the Box, tells of a funeral at his Church, Willow Creek near Chicago. The deceased was named Armand Hammer. A billionaire industrialist and philanthropist, he was called by USA Today a “giant of capitalism and confidante of world leaders.” When Hammer died, his son Julian did not attend the funeral. Neither did the members of his two brothers’ families. And neither did almost anyone else. His pallbearers were his chauffeur, his male nurse, and other personal employees. There were about 200 people at the funeral. Then a man named Larry Clarke died. When Larry was in his thirties he quit his job so that he could serve full-time at the church (for no pay). He never married, never owned a home, never went on an expensive vacation. He just befriended people. He saw potential. He invited people into groups, into opportunities to make friends and contribute. He saw potential in discouraged people. He had radar for lonely people. He told people what he thought they could become. One morning when he was jogging downtown, Larry accidently stepped in front of a bus and was struck and killed. A wake was held for Larry in the chapel of the church that week.
No one was sure how many people would come: after all, Larry never married and had no children and no regular job. So many people came to file past the casket that the line went out the chapel door for blocks; eight hundred people stood in line for three hours to honor him. The next day was the funeral service. In the decade of the 90's many funerals were held in the Willow Creek Chapel, several of them for people of significant stature and achievement. Only one drew so many people that it overflowed the chapel
and had to be moved to the main auditorium: Larry Clarke’s. At the service and the wake, at the reception and in the halls, one person after another spoke of how his or her life had been touched by Larry. None of the stories were about Larry’s possessions or achievements. All of them were about Larry’s capacity to love. We used to wonder how Larry could afford to give all his time away. Somebody at his funeral mentioned they heard Larry say one time that you’d be surprised how much good food you could find foraging behind the Supermarket that gets thrown out even though it is still packaged and fresh.
One man was famous, courted, wealthy, connected, powerful, envied, and feared. The other man secretly scrounged for food behind a grocery store. Which one made a true name for himself?