VALUE vs MEANING

I have experienced a lot of life and a lot of exits from life.  Each exit from from life is different and each one translates the value of the life into a more universal meaning.  Value is defined by observable behavior.  Meaning goes far beyond value.  It penetrates more deeply into the internal life of those who get touched by the life that creates it.  There are many levels of life, and many expressions of it on earth.  The flowers of the fields and the gardens, the birds of the air, the fish in the bowl, the animals who share our living space all have a value.  They also all have the ability to inject meaning into our own human life.  Because these life levels do that,  we appreciate the meaning of human lives that touch us.  We all know that someday we will have to do without the real value of  the lives of our friends and relatives.  We also know that we will carry the meaning of these lives with us until we, in turn reach our limit.
Each life has limits.  The value of each life has limits.  The meaning of each life has limits.  Human life, like any other form of life can only go just so far and just so deep.  We all know that.  We see it in our own lives.  I can use myself as a handy example for that statement.  I have childhood friends whom I have not encountered personally for over 60 years.  Some of them would like to see me again, and vice versa.  Others are glad that they don't have to endure even the faint thought of my existence, and once again, vice versa.  Interesting thing about that feeling...It applies to some people with whom I deal almost every day, too!  The other thing that we all know is that the joy of life is in presence, not absence.  The deepest emotion of joy that comes from life is from its meaning, not from its value.   When we comment about someone that we admire don't we say, "X means a lot to me?"  We don't usually talk about value.  Not me, anyway.  I would find it nasty to say about a friend, "Yeah, she/he is worth a lot to me."
So, like everyone else, George Woodworth, he of revered memory, meant a lot of good things to many people.  He also, just like the rest of us, turned his share of people off.  So, since I represent those who revere the powerfully meaningful good part of  him, let me try to mention some of the more powerful meanings that will continue to survive the life that has finally come to an end.
1. His honesty.  When he loved you, you knew it.  When he didn't, you knew that too.
2. His ability to love deeply and to share it.  George is perhaps the best thing that ever happened to Kyocera.  He fell in love with Mr. Asa Jonishi and many others who held key positions in the company.
3. His ability to appreciate and absorb the culture of the Japanese people and of the corporation itself.
4. His loyalty, to people and to the corporation.
5. His ability and willingness to share his knowledge and life experience without the fear of losing his job to someone who learned from him.
When I came into his life, he took a chance on me.  I was at the threshold of a change in career.  All I had was my culture and my intellect with no work history in the United States.  I had solid educational credentials with a long history of overseas endeavors, including my masters degree from a foreign university.  When I got the chance to interview in front of Mssrs.  Jonishi, Hasegawa, Imamura, Nagai, Shirai, Heath, Woodworth and Umemura, I must have done well because I remember that I did not have to ask anyone, not a one, to repeat a question because of tortuous English pronunciation.
In the interest of full disclosure, I had also received the endorsement from one of George's most respected friends, Jack Swank.  He is the one who asked me, "You're a Catholic priest, isn't it against your religion to be anti-union?"  I laughingly answered that by the time I was ordained everyone knew that I was anti-union and they anointed me anyway.
In the end, I got the job.  I left after about 5 years.  I haven't heard the end of it yet.
There was competition for the position.  I do know that.  But because George was willing to gamble, we worked together well and never ceased being friends.  Our trust in one another and our deep acculturation to the environment was certainly beneficial to Kyocera.
That's it for now.  December 1 is the last "Cumpa."