Today I woke up to a bird singing near my window. Now you might think, 'oh how fairytale-like, a girl waking up to birds chirping and the sun shining.' If you have ever had the joy of seeing me what I am like in the morning you know it is far from a fairytale. Needless to say, I did not appreciate the bird's song.
As I was thinking about what to write in today's blog, I couldn't help but think of that bird. And all the other signs this morning. Signs of life. Signs that God has given me another day to live in His creation. It is important to remember though, that living, truly living, in His creation is more than making sure you have a heartbeat. It is living with a purpose, and it is hard to remember sometimes to live with intention.
I've gotten caught up in it. I bet you have too. We go through the motions of life; get up, eat breakfast, go to your respective professions, come home, converse with friends and family about your day, do busy work before going to bed to wake up(hopefully) and do it all over. Somewhere in there God expects us to do more. He expects us to do something with our lives. I pray a lot, and ask a lot of people to pray for me, to live with intention. If I don't have a reason to do something, then why do it? God gave me this wonderful life, full of opportunity, for me to make something of myself and I don't want to waste it.
This made me think of one of my favorite books, along with my favorite teacher from high school. Tuesdays With Morrie is the book, and Mr. Eden is the teacher, he is the teacher for both the newspaper and yearbook. If Mr. Eden taught me anything about myself when I was on staff, it was that what I was doing for the paper(selling advertisements) was important and had a purpose. I think that is why I liked the paper so much, is because it gave me a purpose to do what I was doing, what I love. I love a challenge, and being able to meet a goal. I love feeling like I was a part of something.
At the end of the year, Mr. Eden gives the senior editors a copy of the book, Tuesdays With Morrie, with a little note at the end, a passage of the book highlighted for all of us, and another for the specific recipient. Such a great idea! For me, Eden highlighted the passage, "Remember what I said about finding a meaningful life? I wrote it down, but now I can recite it: Devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning. You notice...there's nothing in there about salary."
If you haven't read the book, you should. If you want to borrow my copy, I'd be more than happy to loan it to you! In short, the book is written by a man who is rich in material wealth, who goes back to his old college professor who has been diagnosed ALS(Lou Gehrig's disease) and becomes rich in educational and moral wealth through his professor's lessons of hardship. I don't want to tell you any more, because I want you to read the book.
The passage Mr. Eden highlighted for me works so well in every aspect of my life. Morrie, the professor, encourages the author, Mitch, to live with intention, with meaning. To not just go through the motions and gain wealth, but to love others and develop relationships. Morrie, throughout the book encourages Mitch to not focus on material wealth, as so many do and measure their success based on that, but to focus on making his life something he is proud of.
Now, I know that Morrie in this book is not a replacement for God, but he is really catching onto what God wants for us. He wants us to be devoted to love, to those around us, and to be devoted to purpose.
Every once in a while, I need a reminder to live with intention, but I try so hard to find a purpose in all that I do. I'm getting an education to be useful to my future community of peers. I'm writing this blog to hopefully reach out to people about my faith. I'm learning about different people, different lifestyles, so I'm not ignorant to the world around me. I'm making mistakes to know what I believe is right. Sometimes those mistakes are unintentional on my behalf, maybe not on God's. However, what I do after them should be intentional. I should learn from them.
No comments:
Post a Comment