The American industrialist, Andrew Carnegie once said, “As I grow older I pay less attention to what men say, I just watch what they do.”
For the past 10 years, I have been watching Nelson Wong do what he does. The longer I watch, the more I am convinced that here is a wise man. Although we often interchange the words, “man” and “guy,” Nelson is not a “wise guy,” he is a “wise man.”
A wise man knows how to read blueprints and manage the seismic retrofitting of our historic church brick building.
A wise man is never afraid to roll up his sleeves and put on overalls to clean the grill in the church kitchen.
A wise man knows how to fix things and keep things in good working order.
A wise man knows how to lay out strategic plans for a big city like San Francisco and keep all systems working properly.
A wise man has x-ray vision because he knows what is underneath the sidewalks and streets.
A wise engineer man has this uncanny ability to divide a pie or a cake into 11 precise equal pieces without taking out a compass or a slide rule.
A wise man studies the Bible and takes notes at Bible study to refer back to in the future.
A wise man is never late, comes usually early, always on time in order that no opportunity is ever missed.
A wise man enjoys good food and exercises regularly.
A wise man loves his daughters so much that he shares them with other men whom he knows will love his daughters as much as he does.
We also know that behind this wise man is also a wiser woman who often makes wise cracks on how unwise it is to have fried rice for his birthday.
In the Bible, Jesus tells us about a foolish man who built his house upon the sand and when the rains came down and the floods came up, the house was washed away. There are still lots of foolish people along the Gulf Coast and the West Coast and the East Coast. But do you know where this wise man has built his house? His house is on one of the Twin Peaks! Unlike the foolish man, the wise man that Jesus spoke about built his house on the rock and when the rains came down and the floods came up, the house on the rock stood firm.
There’s a story of a scientist, an engineer and a philosopher who were shipwrecked on a desert island with only one can of beans to sustain them, but no means of opening it. The scientist says, “If we leave the can in the sun, the rays will heat and expand the air inside and blow the lid off. Then we can eat the beans.”
The engineer like Nelson says, “The beans will fly everywhere. Let’s construct a container of palm leaves to catch the beans when the sun’s ray blows the lid off the can.”
They both turn to the philosopher who thinks for a moment and then says, “Let us assume we have a can opener…”
Nelson Wong is a very wise man because he needs to be. When he is babysitting his 3 grandchildren, Madison, Jacob, and Parker all at once and all by himself, he sometimes needs to have the brain to know how to open those baby food bottles and baby formula cans! Knowing this wise man, Nelson wouldn’t just sit around assuming that there’s a can opener, he would find a way to feed his grandkids.
Someone once said, “Never mistake knowledge for wisdom. One helps you make a living; the other helps you make a life.”
Nelson, you have created a wonderful life of 60 years! It is a true blessing to know you and your life; and the wisdom that you have to share with all of us. We wish you a happy 60th Birthday and pray that God will continue to bless you and watch over you for many years to come. May God be with this very wise man.
Don Ng
September 26, 2008