I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly --- my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.

Ecclesiastes 2:3

Life is what happens between the bookends of birth and death. Infants constantly seek attention because they are limited in ways in which to communicate their needs; they are also absorbed in the concept of focusing --- on anything.

We regard the activities of children as “playing”, when they are actually mimicking life. Everything they say or do stems from their years of observation. This gives serious consideration as to how we should behave in front of them.

The elderly spend a great amount of time reflecting on their past. They will either dwell on it, with many regrets, or smile over it, with fond memories. They also tend to give more attention to the possibility of an afterlife.

What we all seem to have difficulty with is focusing on the present. We brood over the past, due to our own mistakes, or hang onto feelings of how we were misunderstood or mistreated. On the other hand, we’re always looking ahead. To the weekend, a new job, an upcoming event, an end to a difficult task, or relief from a sickness.

We stumble through the drudgeries of the day, and in so doing, we overlook the abundant blessings that are before us. We miss opportunities to care for those around us. Sometimes the task at hand is to care for others, but we do it with resentment, because we don’t feel appreciated.

So we try to offset dull or difficult or meaningless experiences with periods of pleasure or entertainment. We look forward to them with anticipation, but often find afterward that they didn’t completely satisfy. And we are constantly seeking something better, going to the next level. This involves futile attempts at self-contentment, and can be costly.

It is acceptable to think of, and make plans for, the future. It is expected that we are to look back with fond memories, or to learn from our mistakes. But what if we were to focus on the next thing --- no matter how trivial?

Has it occurred to you how special and significant routine things are? Like tying your shoe. Or cooking from a recipe. Or mowing the grass. An Alzheimer’s patient has lost that ability. Like watching a sunrise. Or hearing birds sing. Blind or deaf people miss out on certain pleasures.

Some people only have a few days on this earth. Others have many, which, when looking back, seem like only a few. We can’t ponder and pine over wasted days gone by. Nor can we throw away today in anticipation of tomorrow. We must make the most of each day --- using all of our senses to appreciate this thing called life.

We are to also be ever conscious about those we come into contact with each day. How do they feel? What can we do for them? Do they need a listening ear, or a hug, or a piece of sound advice? Ask questions. Really listen to the answers. Ask more questions. Show that you care. Live.

A Life Lived

“In this ‘season of calm weather,’ when the past has receded so far that he can behold it as in a picture, and his share in it as the history of a man who had lived and would soon die; when he can confess his faults without the bitterness of shame, both because he is humble, and because the faults themselves have dropped from him; when his good deeds look poverty-stricken in his eyes, and he would no more claim consideration for them than expect knighthood because he is no thief; when he cares little for his reputation, but much for his character --- little for what has gone beyond his control, but endlessly much for what yet remains in his will to determine; then I think, a man may do well to write his own life.”

George MacDonald, from Wilfrid Cumbermede

How many of us ever take the time to reflect on our lives and give serious thought as to its purpose? Even those who are regular churchgoers confirm to themselves each Sunday that they are to “do God’s work,” only to slip back into the same routine throughout the week --- eat, sleep, go to the job, pay the bills, raise the kids, do the laundry, mow the grass and fill the voids with some form of entertainment (TV, movies, sports, etc.).

You might be surprised to find that doing those very things is God’s work. He made us for the purpose of living. However, while in the course of living, we will make mistakes, and we will do some good. When we fail, we are to be assured that God forgives every repentant heart, with the sole purpose of correcting the character and building up the child. When we do good, it should not be so sporadic that even we are surprised that we’ve done it, or that we need to be recognized for doing it.

The difference is not so much in what people do, but how they do it. We often fail to understand that God doesn’t want us to do religious things in order to be close to him. He wants us to do the same things, but in a very different way. What sets us apart from the so-called rat race is how we address ordinary things, how our focus is directed to a life of obedience. How do we do that?

First, we know that we get some level of personal pleasure when we accomplish something, do a job right, or just simply enjoy our relaxation. The problem is that we put ourselves in the center of these activities. I did it. I want it. I deserve it. The lasting pleasure, however, lies in the interaction with others --- seeing them succeed, overcome and be refreshed. But that is so unlike what our society teaches us.

Also, we must be ever conscious of God’s presence in all that we do. We have this crazy idea that he’s not concerned with everything that we do, that there are things that we can keep from him. He’s seen it all, sees it all, and understands completely the joys and frustrations that we encounter daily. He’s ready to heal us and fill us with his love --- even after he’s called us on the carpet for bad behavior.

Finally, we are to be fully persuaded that God is love, a consuming fire that purges all of the bad from his created ones. We are made in his image, which means that we too must love, not because we have to, but because we can do no other. We are to set no goals for straightening out our lives; we are to look no further than today, this moment, then the next, and the next, until we lose ourselves in the wondrous events that we call life. Not routine. Not just getting by. But proceeding with purpose, not building for the few paltry years that we expect to have on this earth; instead moving steadily forward in that life eternal, growing to be one with our heavenly Father, looking beyond to the greater journey, with his only son, Jesus Christ, as our guide.