I have been thinking that my posts of late have been a little off track and aimless. Then, I saw these devotionals in the grocery store and thought that maybe I should be striving to create something like that in my writing if I want to be more focused.
I was thinking yesterday about my experience of life itself and realizing that maybe I have been looking at it wrong. My family taught me to think of life in terms of black and white. I should see things as being all or nothing. Yet, life really doesn’t work that way.
There’s no one moment in my life that will define it. Instead, my life is a tapestry of interwoven events that makeup different parts of who I am. None of these events should be judged as good or bad in and of themselves. Just as no person is totally good or evil. Each event in my life just adds to the experience of that life. It really isn’t about having good or bad experiences or accomplishments and failures. Life is about experiencing life and having the ability to recognize that no matter what is happening I am enjoying my life and grateful for the experience.
When I was in high school there was this very popular book called “Zen in the art of motorcycle maintenance.” I never read the book, but I think the point of the book is that no matter what you are doing in life, you should be totally in the moment and experiencing life.
If I were to die tomorrow, I don’t want to think about all the things I could have done. I want to think about how thankful I am for the life that I led. Mistakes and failures are part of God’s plan. Sorrow and pain are part of life. Experiencing the consequences of evil acts by my brothers and sisters in Christ is one of the things I am here to do. Life isn’t meant to be this easy float down a serene river that goes straight and is perfectly calm. Life is going down a winding river that changes all the time and has dangerous rapids. It’s fun, scary, and crazy all at the same time. Half the time I don’t know if I am going to be able to handle it, but I know that God’s in the raft and He knows how to navigate the river. I might get lost. I might cry and lose it. Somehow, I am going to keep going down that river and I have faith that I will find the end eventually with God by my side.
My faith saved me. May God’s peace reside in all of our hearts.
