I saw a show today about a football team and the town getting behind the team. When the team started winning, the townspeople got excited and felt pride about it. They wanted to be part of the winning. They wanted to feel special. I guess I sort of understand it, but on many levels I don’t.
The part of me that understands it always had a dream since I was a little girl that I would do something, write something, be someone who would change the world and make it better. I hoped that somehow, someway I could be special. Yet the older I got and the more mature I became and most importantly the more my faith grew, I realized that I didn’t need to be special.
I realized that what makes my life meaningful isn’t about making myself exceptional among all the rest of the humans in the world. Logistically, even if I became rich and famous, no one would know my name a thousand years from now. Even if I did something amazing that changed the world, no one would know me. After all, someone invented the wheel, but no one knows who that person was. Some amazing person created the great pyramid in Egypt, but no one knows who built it. Their names are lost in time. It really doesn’t matter. My name doesn’t matter to anyone, except for God.
God knew my name before I was born, and He will remember it long after my body has become ashes once again. My life is meaningful because of the gift of life God gave me. It is meaningful because I live in gratitude for that gift, and I struggle every day to appreciate that gift.
I don’t understand wanting to be noticed for a winning football team or being special or exception some way. I don’t need it; it might be nice to have attention every once in a while, but I don’t need it. All I need is my God, my faith, and the love that I carry in my heart. Loving others, trying to be who God knows I can be, and being appreciative of my life will mean more than any celebrity or fame could ever bring me.
My faith saved me. May God’s peace reside in all our hearts.
