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Not only does DeVos believe this credo strongly, he has written a book on the topic, Rediscovering American Values: The Foundations of Our Freedom for the 21st Century. In an age when we are attracted by the new and the quick-and-easy, DeVos sets out to convince us that ideals such as honesty, reliability, fairness, compassion, courage, humility, and optimism have not lost their coinage. They are as essential now as ever to both our personal and national freedom.
Nor does he hide the role of his faith in his assertions. "If we are to exercise our free will to do what is right then, from where are we to receive our guidance? For me, as a Christian, that is easily answered," he writes in the introduction.
DeVos, son of Rich DeVos who was one of the cofounders of Amway, succeeded his father as president of the company. With more than 13,000 employees and two and a half million distributors worldwide, DeVos learned the entrepreneurial spirit early in life. He now travels a great deal from his home in Michigan since Amway operates in 40 countries. On Easter Sunday of 1996, he was in Hanoi, worshiping at the only church service in the city.
Talking with this earnest and careful thinker adds emphasis to what he writes, and we had the opportunity to do that recently. The book is divided into three major Parts: Upholding Freedom (doing what is right), Becoming Free (how we relate to others), and Preserving Freedom (how we help others develop their abilities). Each part contains chapters on eight pertinent values, 24 in all.
But these are not dry or lofty discourses. Rediscovering American Values is a book of uplifting stories. After DeVos and his staff had selected the values and were considering stories they wanted to use, they went to meet the people involved. They discovered that 60 to 70 percent of them were committed Christians. That made DeVos more certain than ever that the values he wanted to put forward are clearly related to the Christian faith.
One such story in the chapter on "Work" is about Willie Gary of Stuart, Florida. The son of migrant farm workers, Gary remembers Sunday services at the edge of a field where the sermon was delivered from a pulpit made of stacked packing crates. He also remembers being taught to play by the rules, to work hard, and to help your fellow man. He became the first black student from his hometown to get a college degree and later the first black lawyer to practice in the town of Stuart. Eventually he became one of the most successful attorneys in the state, but success did not ruin him. Gary is so grateful for the help he has received that he recently donated ten million dollars to the college where he graduated.
DeVos comments on the way this story has helped him. "Looking back on my own career, I see that the single most important gift my parents gave me was showing the joy of utilizing God-given gifts to reach my full potential and to do God's work to the best of my ability."
This very readable approach is the way DeVos treats each of the values in the book. Rather than preaching to his readers, DeVos often draws the example home to himself. He encourages people to stand up for right and wrong, but he does not judge us in the process. DeVos simply wants us to act upon the truth that "Freedom is doing what's right." Why, that could save the country!
Charlotte Wimberly is a reviewer who lives in Houston, TX.
Copyright ©1996, 1997 ProMotion, inc.
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