How much time do you have?
The answer, of course, is “I don’t know.” None of us knows for certain the day or hour when our life on this earth will end. Oh sure…we can manipulate the system to a certain extent. Plenty of exercise and rest. Good diet. You know the routine. But all the bran muffins or deep knee bends in the world won’t change the inevitable. We are mortal, and we will die.
The subject is close to my heart as I come to grips with the death of a friend and teacher. The earthly end for John came suddenly and at what seems more and more like an early age. It simply drives home the point that there are limits…that not everything is within our control.
Better, then, to concentrate on those things which we can influence. Better, then, to focus less time and anxiety on our dying and more on the value of our living.
On July 13 back in 1989, our neighbor passed away. She was in her mid-twenties…a bright and lively young woman who taught in the nearby Catholic elementary school. She went in for what was supposed to be routine surgery and died on the operating table.
Her death was a wake-up call for me…a big dose of my own mortality. It became clear that it was time to quit running away, and to do what I had sensed for some time was my true vocation. Over the course of the next year, I quit my job, the Mrs. and I sold the house, loaded up our kids and all our worldly possessions, and moved six hours away so that I could go to seminary. Twenty years later I look back on that watershed moment, and am thankful to God...not for the loss, but for the opportunity it bore.
The point is to make the most of what we have. Life is a gift…not a possession. Today is ours because a gracious God has willed it to us. And something about who we are is evident in how we choose to spend the gift of each precious day.
John spent his days well. He was a powerful blessing to those around him. I’m hoping that, at least on balance, the gift of life I’ve been given will eventually be regarded the same way.
And I urge you to join me in this. Oh sure…pass the muffins. Take a hike. Don’t forget your vitamins. Better yet: live today as fully and faithfully as you can. It is what you can do to thank God for the moment.
15 July 2009
01 July 2009
Not for wimps...
Christianity, that is. It's not for wimps. Taking the Gospel into the world means running headlong into the rejection and disregard that have been traveling companions for the good news ever since the beginning. It's that whole cross thing. Want to be a Christian? Then you better look good on wood, as the old saying goes.
...which is one of the reasons why we take our kids to Confirmation Camp.
That was last week's adventure: five days of running around the hills and woods at LMC. It's a great place staffed by good, faithful folks who have the awesome responsibility of sharing the faith with little kids and teenagers. It's a lot of fun...everything from cannonball contests at the pool to silly songs at campfire. And it's a place to be tested instead of coddled...to learn that you can do more than you ever thought possible.
Have you ever climbed a rock wall? For the lean, lanky and athletic, it's a matter of reaching the next hand-hold and scampering up. But for most kids, it's a real challenge. Fear of heights. Fear that the folks on the rope might not be able to hold me. Fear that my legs and arms just aren't strong enough to hang on. Fear that I'll fail in front of my peers. It's a risk just to decide to do it.
And it's a risk that every one of our kids took. They worked hard. They trusted the folks who were holding them even when they couldn't see them. They discovered a group of friends who screamed their encouragement when letting go seemed like the best option and cheered them at the end. They didn't quit...and in the process learned that they're tougher and more able than they thought they were.
I'm glad we go to camp and do Bible study and play games and swim and sing. But I'm especially glad that we go to camp to push ourselves...to try something new and seemingly dangerous...to go places where we wouldn't ordinarily go, and learn to trust that it's going to be OK in the end...that God has a hold of the rope, and he's not letting go.
Someplace...somehow...we need to learn to trust that. Why? Because it's true. Because it's the strength we need to live. Because following after Jesus can be a tough business. Because Christianity isn't for wimps.
...which is one of the reasons why we take our kids to Confirmation Camp.
That was last week's adventure: five days of running around the hills and woods at LMC. It's a great place staffed by good, faithful folks who have the awesome responsibility of sharing the faith with little kids and teenagers. It's a lot of fun...everything from cannonball contests at the pool to silly songs at campfire. And it's a place to be tested instead of coddled...to learn that you can do more than you ever thought possible.
Have you ever climbed a rock wall? For the lean, lanky and athletic, it's a matter of reaching the next hand-hold and scampering up. But for most kids, it's a real challenge. Fear of heights. Fear that the folks on the rope might not be able to hold me. Fear that my legs and arms just aren't strong enough to hang on. Fear that I'll fail in front of my peers. It's a risk just to decide to do it.
And it's a risk that every one of our kids took. They worked hard. They trusted the folks who were holding them even when they couldn't see them. They discovered a group of friends who screamed their encouragement when letting go seemed like the best option and cheered them at the end. They didn't quit...and in the process learned that they're tougher and more able than they thought they were.
I'm glad we go to camp and do Bible study and play games and swim and sing. But I'm especially glad that we go to camp to push ourselves...to try something new and seemingly dangerous...to go places where we wouldn't ordinarily go, and learn to trust that it's going to be OK in the end...that God has a hold of the rope, and he's not letting go.
Someplace...somehow...we need to learn to trust that. Why? Because it's true. Because it's the strength we need to live. Because following after Jesus can be a tough business. Because Christianity isn't for wimps.
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