HOW LIFE WORKS-I THINK

 

Thoughts of an old guy:

Maine 2011

 I don’t know how I got to be old—it just happened. Once I was in Milton H Allen Elementary School playing with blocks and doing finger painting in Miss Adams kindergarten, and the next day I was retired, trying to remember that distinct clinking sound of wooden blocks and trying to recall the delightful smell of finger paints.

What I do know is that, in spite of the fact that most of my life is behind me now, it’s not that bad getting older. I can say that, of course, because I’ve been fortunate to be in reasonably good health. There’s a tendency among old folks to want to take credit for that sort of thing, and I suppose in some ways the choices we make about our lifestyles and general habits are influential factors. For making good decisions along those lines as we go throughout our lives, we can take some  cedit in being a little bit wise.

I love the story of the man who was celebrating his 100^th birthday, and was asked to what he attributed his longevity, and he replied that it was because he was born before they discovered germs.

I do want to say, though, to anyone of any age, today is the only day we hold in our hands. Yesterday is gone and tomorrow isn’t here yet, and in spite of whatever is happening for us in this very second, it is our only living, breathing moment available for any of us. Besides, everything we do, every event we experience, every person we know, and every decision we make are all chapters in our life story.

During my years as a minister, once in awhile someone would ask me if I thought that God has a plan for each of us. Truthfully, I don’t know the answer to that in specific terms. I have thought about that a lot because I’ve wanted to know if I am living the life I am supposed to be living. But then I would be reminded that we are not puppets made to entertain God the Puppeteer. We are given free will to live as we see fit according to whatever particular talents and interests we have.That’s a very general answer to the question of “what is my purpose?”

There have been many times in my career when I have wondered if my becoming a minister was more my idea than the following some Divine plan (usually when I have managed to screw things up). In the days when I was in the process of being ordained, candidates for ordination had to be interviewed by various committees who would examine our “fitness for ministry,”  One of the big questions that was sure to be asked was “How do you know that you have been called?”

Naturally you would want to answer in a way that will gain the committee’s approval, and yet, there is the honest response, which seems to be the more appropriate way to go. So when asked that question, I recall saying something like “It feels like what I’m supposed to do with my life.”  There have been many moments since that seem to have been pretty good indicators that I was on the right path for which I was very thankful.

I guess the main point I want to make is that our lives unfold decade by decade in ways that are sometimes exactly according to plan (our plan, that is) and sometimes completely different than anything we could have imagined. But these are the stories of our lives—the best-selling novels about who we are and what life means to us.

To me, the Divine plan is for us to follow our hearts, minds, and spirits with the assurance that we are loved no matter what. We each have certain gifts, talents, and inclinations that mean that we have been “called” to live with the joy of some purpose, great or small—but all important in their own right. But keep open to what surprises might be in the next chapter of your novel.

Just a thought.