From the Editor

Recently at a church service at the First United Methodist Church in Topeka, Pastor Max Clayton of our Rotary Club, preached in his sermon that it "all will go back in the box at the end of life." It is an interesting concept and one that deserves further thought and comment. One of the things I enjoy writing about is leadership and making positive steps to improve my life and to offer thoughts for others to con-sider. Your legacy as a person is that which you leave behind.

This is what people will remember you for long after you are gone. The greatest people who have walked this earth have left behind a legacy of goodwill and service that benefited all mankind. It is a legacy that Rotary promotes. It is a belief I have and I sincerely believe that if others exhibited the Rotary Four Way Test, the world would be a much better place. I have great admiration for those that live their lives, even in private, in a way that shows leadership. I believe that true leadership to ourselves is just as valuable as leadership to others. I have a tendency to look at things a little different. For me, the box is what we spend our life building and in the end, people will remember only those things in the box of life. This includes our personal integrity. Rotary helps fill that box with truth and fairness to all mankind. We all have some natu-ral desire to leave a legacy. By following the principles of Rotary, that legacy is one in we all should be proud.

February is Rotary‘s World Understanding Month (p.7). It‘s imperative that we not only understand the world around us, but do our best to ensure that it will be around for future generations. More importantly , I believe we have a duty to leave the world better than we found it.

Understanding the world is also about sharing our resources. The front cover of this month‘s issue includes eight thank you cards from children in Paraguay who benefited from a gift of $500 we made for the creation of a library (p.8).

So let‘s all move forward and celebrate World Understanding Month