Worn Out And Used Up!

"The world is a beautiful place to be born into if you don't mind some people dying all the time or maybe only starving some of the time which isn't half bad if it isn't you. "  This is a quote from Laurence Ferlinghetti, poet and playwright from his book "Pictures of the Gone  World".   It first appeared in the Chicago Review in 1955.  This was a new kind of poetry that brought us into the changing era of the post wars years of the forties.  The world was changing and so was the way we see it, literally.  The development of photography, movies and television would soon change our view of the world.  It would take on a new reality, it would become a visual reality with all of it's brutality, cruelty, mixed with it, we see it's elegant, alluring creative side.  Like all things in life, it has two sides.  

Our happiness depends on which side we find ourselves on on any given day.  The Chinese have a proverb for how we westerners live our lives, "People in the West are always getting ready to live."  How true that is. My middle daughter once told she did not take many pictures on one of her travel trips because she was trying to live the moment, not record it.  Life here on this earth can seem like living in a second class hotel when we are always striving to live and get beyond ourselves.  I remember saying once that I wanted to live with the so-called losers of life because they seemed so relaxed, but at least I could keep up with them.   As I enter into the later years of my life I have no reason to wear any kind of mask nor pretend to be anyone other than who I really am. 

 Unfortunately we tend to live life backwards and not always forwards, but life goes on and so do we.  The tragedy of life is not in the things we suffer, but in the things we miss, life can be a long preparation for something that never happens.  In the words of Monty Python, "suddenly nothing happened", can sum up a life of disappointment for those who are dissatisfied with their circumstances. These are never satisfied with what  they have and refuse to live in the midst of life no matter how stark or profound it may be.   Life is what we breath, consume and what we contribute back to it.  It is not how many years you live, but how much you put into those years that will define the quality of your life.  

This last week I lost a personal friend who was old enough to die and qualified by life experience to graduate to the next stage of her life.   That stage is called eternity or eternal life, a life that has a new life source, not one that is bound by human limitations or earthly desires.  The Holy Scriptures speak of a life that is at one with God (our creator) in all His holiness and beauty.  A life that is not held back by inner desires of insecurity, shame and the want for something more.  A life that is complete in itself, a life that is self perpetuating and needs nothings except to be connected to the source of all life, God Himself.  One of God's greatest character traits is His humility.  The very fact that God became one with us through the birth of Christ.  That this God would humble Himself and submit to the negatives of humanity so that He could feel what we feel and suffer what we suffer, even death itself.  The story of  God's birth, death and resurrection  is a picture of humility expressed by the ultimate power, God Himself.  It was once said that many men have aspired to be gods, but only one God has ever became man.  

One of our greatest hopes but yet a constant mystery is death, what would life be like without the hope of death?  A hope that brings us beyond ourselves, a hope that points us to something better than what we have.  May we all realize the frailty of life, the weakness of our own bodies and the strength of desire for something more, something that completes, fulfills and lets us live as we've never lived before.  Life is to be spent not saved, when we come to life's conclusion we should be well spent, used up, and every ounce of life in us should have been exhausted and consumed.  We should leave this life on empty waiting for the complete rebuild of all our working parts.  Let us not get in the way of those who are coming behind us in life's pursuit of everything wonderful, rare and exciting.  May we understand that this life is a gift from God and something to be cherished, used and expressed.  May we all reflect the glory of our  Creator and become the expressed image of who He is.