Thank You, Mr. Wills
Do you recognize the young man in the picture? Does his name, Frank Wills, help at all? What about the fact that he is wearing some kind of uniform?
Does the picture of the lock help at all? You may be interested to know that Jeff Bezos recently thought that it was valuable enough to pay $62,500 for it at an auction.
Those of us who have been around a while probably easily recognize names like John Dean, H. R. Haldeman, John Erlichman, John Mitchell, G. Gordon Liddy, Chuck Colson, and, of course. Richard M. Nixon. We probably would have a fairly easy time identifying most of them by their pictures as well. Although half a century has passed, those names and images remain associated in our minds with a series of events (a break-in, cover-ups, lies, deception, investigations, hearings, resignations, etc.) known collectively as “Watergate.”
While the names and images of many of the people involved in Watergate are still easily recognizable, Frank Wills died in obscurity and poverty in 2000. I find that interesting, because the case could be made that, without Frank Wills, the other names might not be so familiar to us. The case could even be made that, without him, our nation would not have witnessed something that has only happened once in our history – the resignation of a president.
Frank Wills was working one night as a security guard at The Watergate Hotel. As he was making his usual rounds, he noticed something unusual. Somebody had put a piece of tape over the latch of a door. He didn’t give that much thought. He just pulled the tape off and went on his way.
After a break, Mr. Wills was making his rounds again and noticed another piece of tape over the latch of the same door and became a little suspicious. It now appeared to him that somebody was intentionally “fixing” the door so that it wouldn’t lock. At that point, he decided to call the police. That, in turn, led to the sequence of events that brought down a president who had won reelection by a landslide.
It might seem simplistic to suggest that a piece of tape brought down an entire presidential administration, but, in reality that is what happened. That piece of tape, along with a man who has largely been overlooked and an obscure lock, changed history.
So – what is the point of all of this? Did I type all of that just because I lived through all of that or that I am somewhat of a history buff?
The truth is that the story about Mr. Wills and the piece(s) of tape can be seen as a real life lesson. It often does not take something major to result in negative and possibly disastrous consequences. Something as “insignificant” as a careless word or one unwise action can ruin the reputation, health, or eternal destiny of an individual.
How many families have been torn apart by what seemed at the time like an innocent mistake, a relatively insignificant bad decision, a “minor” reordering of priorities, etc.? How many friendships have ended because of something seemingly small (a word, a forgotten appointment, etc.)? How many congregations have split, dwindled, or ceased to exist because a “little problem” was not dealt with? If an entire nation can go through a terrible crisis because of a piece of tape, all of us need to recognize that what we think is “no big deal” may instead be a very big deal.
I’m relatively certain that, as Eve took the first bite of the fruit that she was not supposed to eat, she never dreamed of all of the negative ramifications of that “small” act. After all, what was being offered to her seemed so attractive and fulfilling. That’s how Satan worked then and how he continues to work.
Thank you, Mr. Wills, for the reminder.
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AUTHOR: Jim Faughn
