Today my father and I drove through the neighborhood where he grew up. It reminded me of a story about his baseball cards.

He had what nowadays would amount to a priceless collection, the product of growing up in an era of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, lefty Grove and other stars. As the youngest of eight children, he hid his cards in a special place, safe from the eyes of his children.

Years passed. My dad joined the Navy in World War II, forgetting all about the hidden treasure. The cards stayed there as he got married and started a family. Somewhere along the way, the collection was forgotten, and the house was torn down. Little did those workers know about the treasure within.

All of us are sometimes like those workers, tearing down without knowing what’s inside. We criticize, complain and condemn without ever seeing the treasure.

“Don’t criticize what you don’t understand, son,” said Elvis Presley. “You never walked in that man’s shoes.”

Adds Frank A. Clark, “Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish a man’s growth without destroying his roots.”

Jeremy Lin, though now injured, should remind everyone how easy it is to overlook the treasure right in front of us.

Everyone is worth a second or third look. That’s what second chances are all about.

“Faith and doubt both are needed,” said Lillian Smith, “not as antagonists, but working side by side – to take us around the unknown curve.”

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