"...What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." James 4:14
I was recently reviewing some of my Facebook posts. I often do this as a source of blog inspiration, remembering an experience, person or event that might make an interesting post. This time, while pursuing FB, I did a search of my posts with the words “life is”. I figured I would find some great insights over the past few years in which I pontificated on what life is.
This search did not disappoint. I was rewarded with quotes from famous, and not so famous, people: Matthew McConaughey: “Life is a verb.”, John Lennon: "Life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans.", Shauna Neiquist: "When life is sweet, say thank you and celebrate. When life is bitter, say thank you and grow." and Mike Foster: “Life is messy, hard and weird. We don’t have to act surprised anymore.” (to which I responded in my post: “But it’s also beautiful, amazing and exciting, so continue to be surprised!” accompanied by a super-cute photo of my dog looking out the window at the Pacific Ocean.)
Buried in a few of my life is posts was some biblical wisdom: Psalm 139:16 says, "Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." John 10:10 "I came so that you may have life and have it abundantly." Implying that life is intended for abundance and has been ordained by God. All good stuff…
However, peppered among my positive, affirming life is posts, there were a significant number of posts that reminded me of some difficulties and struggles in my life throughout the years. Don’t get me wrong, if you follow me on social media, I hope that you will recognize that I am always trying to be uplifting, positive and edifying. When I face trials and hardships, it is not my practice to air my grievances on a social platform (although, I’m sure on occasion, I have). My intention in these posts is to offer some transparency, positivity and community in struggles. My Facebook posts are intended to give my friends and followers an opportunity to recognize they are not the only ones struggling.
Then maybe they can take a deep breath and feel some validation and peace.
This exploration of “life is” via my Facebook posts reminded me of a moment on a day about three years ago… It was a sunny Saturday, and I was driving to a memorial service at our church. We were going to celebrate the life of a man who was much too young to leave this earth. He had a huge smile, a huge heart and had been a huge influence on my children as middle-schoolers. Unfortunately passed away in the prime of his life. As I drove the brief two-miles though my community, I couldn’t help but notice random people, strangers, going about with their daily routines: out for a jog, fixing a fence, walking their dog, going into the convenience store. Everyone was just existing, living. All the while, people in my circle of influence were grieving the death of a father, son, husband and friend. The loss of this friend had impacted me and my family, but so many others were simply moving through their day unaffected, unchanged. Every day people are born and people die. But between those major life events, there’s a whole lot of living to do. Life is fragile and beautiful and mundane. We should not be complacent and take it for granted.
Another post I unearthed in my search was from a season when many people within my tribe were hurting: family crisis, hospitalization of loved ones, mental health challenges and even the loss of loved ones. I had driven to work one morning. A song played on the radio. The song was Who You Say I Am by a Christian band called Hillsong. Some of the lyrics go like this: “I am chosen / not forsaken / I am who You say I am / You are for me / not against me / I am who You say I am”. It was a reminder to me that when the world is unkind or unfair, I am still the beloved child of the King. I have not been forgotten. I have not been singled out for suffering. He has chosen me and is acting in my best interest, even when it doesn’t make sense.
It is interesting, because I don't specifically remember this day; the day of my Facebook post. I don’t remember all the concerns and struggles that were weighing me down. But it could have been any day. Struggles are always there, it is part of life. Interestingly enough, that wasn’t the complete content of that FB post. I concluded in my post saying that at the end of the day, I received a great blessing from an individual who took no responsibility for their selfless act and gave God the glory (this part of the post I do remember because it was a very generous, loving act). As I climbed into my car to go home at the end of the day, I was surprised to hear the same song by Hillsong playing on the radio as if on a loop. God bookended my work-day with a reminder of his goodness and reminder of who I am, which is his child.
It was good to be reminded, as I scrolled through my Facebook archives, that life is a series of hills and valleys. You can’t have a hill without a valley. It would be something else.
We have these moments of pride and joy coupled with moments of tragedy and grief. It is the ebb and flow of the nature of life. And we have the absolute privilege to share these snapshots with others.
God wired us for community. He wired us to live life with people, to pour into them and allow them to pour into us. Relationship, be it through a computer screen, text, phone call or face-to-face, is the mission of our life. It is our purpose; our focus; our goal. If it isn’t, it should be. Relationship is hard. People are mean, petty, unkind and difficult. But when we find relationship, when we see others as a child of God, another living-breathing-being struggling to keep their head above water and find hope, in those times, we can be the life-vest. We can connect in our humanity and offer the gift of relationship, friendship and community.
Connecting with others is key to getting through this life. It is paramount. It is elemental. It’s what life is!
(Song lyrics by Reuben Morgan and Ben Fielding)
Comments