Our thoughts and our prayers continue to be with the people of Texas and Louisiana…and all others affected by Harvey. We need to pray that Irma will be much kinder.
There are definitely lessons to be learned here. Harvey, I believe has something to teach us.
I am not sure if you saw the same pictures that I saw of the devastation. But I recall images of people carrying their life-long-belongings wrapped in pillow cases.
If an emergency were to hit, and be honest with yourself, what would you grab for, what would you take with you?
I heard a lot about pictures and family heirlooms. That these kinds of things were wanted and of “most value…” Some people referred to them as “things” that could never be replaced. I thought about that for a while.
What would you grab for?
What would you savor?
What would you want to have with you?
What “things” mean the most to you?
Can you make a mental list?
I also saw pictures of people hauling bedding. Seriously, pillows, blankets and comforters… These were the “things” that people grabbed.
I am sure you also saw pictures of people who grabbed their animals…not “things” but dogs and cats, their animal companions…
Not wedding albums…not antique jewelry, but Spot and Fido…
Then there was that one picture that went totally viral of the dog carrying about a 10 pound bag of dog food in its mouth. Apparently Fido knew what he needed to survive! Fido knew what was important to him…Food!
It was food. Food for the short-run. Food for the immediate future…
But is that what is supposed to be most important to us?
So, again I raise the questions – what things would you grab for, what things would you hastily take with you? What is of such “great value”…that it is a “must have for you?”
Perhaps it is my age. Perhaps it is my upbringing. Perhaps it is my mindset…or where I am at – presently in my life today! I dunno…
But there is nothing that I would want…certainly nothing that I would need…nothing that I would have to have.
Is there anything of that great of value?
I understand family…
I understand Fido and Spot…
But shouldn’t you really be looking out for your neighbors? Making sure that they are out and that they are safe? Shouldn’t you stop and check?
What is of more value than human life?
I think of that now famous image of people in the nursing home…up to their wastes in water and beyond. Many of whom were in wheel chairs and on oxygen and trapped.
What do you think was important to them?
I loved the picture of the woman sitting in the chair quietly knitting – as the waters continued to rise…
I would like to think that she was knitting or crocheting for “others…”
What is important? What is truly important?
Jesus often compared two ways of life, the way of “true life” and the way to “death.”
I want you to know that this analogy was “extremely popular” in the life of the early church.
As a matter of fact, one of the first Christian catechisms ever written, entitled “The Teachings of the Twelve Apostles” (written around 110 CE) painted the “Christian life” exactly in these terms.
One road leads to self-giving, light and life. It is all about serving others…God is of the utmost importance. Possessions, power and prestige are not important at all. What is important is “the other.” “Things” are just “things” and not of any intrinsic value.
The “other road” is all about selfishness, darkness and death. It is about living for today, living for the moment…and not living for God. It is all about “me” – my wants, my needs, my desires and sometimes at the expense of the “other.”
One road leads to life, one road leads to death…
What does it mean to “lose life” so that you can truly attain it and live?
Certainly there is more to this life than the acquisition of “things” and of our “treasures” here on earth…
What is important to you?