"Now this is living." I wonder if you've ever said that statement. When I think of “living” in that context, I think of a beach trip with my family, eating at a sushi bar, playing some sort of pick-up game, backpacking through the wilderness, hanging out with a few close friends, etc. I think there's much truth in that statement though. I think we define, “life” by things that are not life.
A wise man asked me today, “Think of when you were a child. What comes to mind as the happiest moment in your life? What's a moment that you really enjoyed being alive?”
It's a good question to ask. Maybe you'll consider it. More than likely our responses to this question reveal something about what we pursue as “life.” It might be performance, recognition, pleasure, a hassle-free existence...
It's probably a very wrong definition of life. Then I was asked, “Think of a time when you were a child. What moment comes to mind when you hated life? When you wanted to hide?”
My answer was a moment from 8th grade. I had just found out that I didn't get into Honors English. I was devastated. I pretended to be looking for something in my locker, but really I was just trying to hide the fact that it hurt so bad that I was crying. I decided at that moment that my academic performance (and performance-based living) were my everything. The strange thing is that I even majored in English in college. Never really thought about that until today. It's never been my best subject. Maybe I majored in it to prove something to myself.
I guess I defined death as being revealed as insufficient... not being enough... being inadequate. That was death to me. The opposite of this is what I've functionally pursued as life... the praise of man.
Stirred by what scripture calls, “life.” John 17 calls it knowing God. Man, I think I'm actually tired of striving so hard for my inaccurate version of “life.” It can't truly be life. Ready for much more. Longing for real life.
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