I was thinking today - I know, hard to believe - about people with lots of coin. We have a lot of them where we live. Rich folks come up from Texas to spend 2 weeks a year at their half million dollar second home. The rest of the year the places sit empty. To be honest it is pretty nauseating. There are many folks around here who have had to move away from the area because they can't find jobs or can't pay for a house to live in. Seems like there ought to be a way for them to find a free place to stay for 50 weeks a year, then vacate when the affluent people come in for their two weeks.
This whole topic got me thinking about the rich in our world. They have lots of affluence, but I wonder how much influence their affluence buys them. Because they aren't the same thing. I know that I will never have affluence, and honestly I would rather impact the world through my influence rather than my affluence. I want the character of my life and the integrity with which I try to live to be the impacter of the world, not the number of zeros behind any given number in my bank account.
Affluence or influence. Which one really matters when you realize you never will take a cent of it with you. Influence lasts forever, but affluence sure makes it more comfortable getting there. So are we willing to trade some discomfort now for a great forever? Or do we aim for power and prestige and lots of money to make the journey more enjoyable? Because real influence doesn't need affluence to make it happen.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Monday, September 7, 2009
Knowing Him in the going
Its been way too long since I blogged. It seems that life has been really full of trying to make huge decisions. And then we have had friends here from the flat lands. Its been busy.
We had a chance to backpack for 3 days. What a humble reminder of how old I am getting. The irony is that I am still dreaming and scheming about future trips, oblivious that I will probably do them, then wonder what the heck I was thinking.
But I am most aware lately of the sovereignty of God and the lack of control I have on my life at times. And the worst part is that I keep trying to predict and figure out where the trail of life is going. What a foolish effort! Because I will never know. And when I think I have it pegged, He'll do something unpredictable, just to remind me how really finite I am.
It is almost like Papa wants to remind me that the goal of this journey isn't to know the path ahead, but to walk it, regardless of the hurdles and confusing landmarks. The goal is to trust Him, not know where the road is going. But like many of us, I want to know, giving myself the illusion that somehow I have a little control on the direction. Even as I write that, I find it funny.
I won't ever know where I am going. But I can know Him in the going. Isn't that the very point?
We had a chance to backpack for 3 days. What a humble reminder of how old I am getting. The irony is that I am still dreaming and scheming about future trips, oblivious that I will probably do them, then wonder what the heck I was thinking.
But I am most aware lately of the sovereignty of God and the lack of control I have on my life at times. And the worst part is that I keep trying to predict and figure out where the trail of life is going. What a foolish effort! Because I will never know. And when I think I have it pegged, He'll do something unpredictable, just to remind me how really finite I am.
It is almost like Papa wants to remind me that the goal of this journey isn't to know the path ahead, but to walk it, regardless of the hurdles and confusing landmarks. The goal is to trust Him, not know where the road is going. But like many of us, I want to know, giving myself the illusion that somehow I have a little control on the direction. Even as I write that, I find it funny.
I won't ever know where I am going. But I can know Him in the going. Isn't that the very point?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
