Where there is no Vision...
What is the purpose of life?
I've often heard that everybody at some point in their life wonders what it's all about. I'm not sure if everyone really does question it, but I know I do. Dagwood recently wondered that to himself, and was given a big kiss from Blondie. He decided that that must be what it is all about.
However, as much as getting a big kiss from a gorgeous blond may be a motivating factor, I've discovered in life that that is still not what it is all about. For those of you who think that when you find your spouse and maybe have kids, or get going in that career, or whatever, that life will suddenly become wrought with profound meaning, you are in for a dissapointment.
We know, of course, that what life is actually about is God. God is both our begining and our end. By that I mean that He is the one from whom we came and he is the one that we ought to be dirrected towards in everything. But what does this mean? The old Baltimore Catechism used to teach that we essentially existed to know and love God. And generations of people memorized this answer, so that had you asked them what life was all about, they could answer- but after Vatican II we recognized that this memorized answer did nothing to actually help the people who memorized it to get on with actually glorifying God or loving God with their 'whole heart, soul, mind and strength.'
At reunion we addressed the idea that we need to keep our eyes on the prize- that Christianity is like a race, and, like a race, that we have to keep looking at what we are going towards. Our prize is Jesus. We keep our eyes on Him, and make Him our goal.
But the thing is, you may have heard that, or something like it before, and still it has not sunk in to your interior.
"Where there is no vision, the people perish"- Proverbs 19:18
You may know intellectually that your eventual goal is heaven, or the greater glory of God, or love, or whatever, but do you play that out practically? The Bible says we need to have vision- we need to look ahead and see where we are going so that the little steps we make right now are in the right dirrection!
I also alluded to this at reunion. In the alegorical race, I tend to stop looking at my goal- Christ- and I start looking at myself. I may be trying to guage my own relationship with God and see how I am doing. Or i may just be thinking about how tired I am in the morning, how so and so misjudged me and that's not fair, how intelligent or good looking people think I am...
If we keep our eyes on God- then we'll start living deliberately so that we can get to God. What I mean is, we can start living in order to love God! This has got to be our vision! A lot of times we may want to do a thing that is not necessarily evil, but maybe imprudent- like stay up really late. If you begin to focus in on your vision, see where you wanna go, then you'll start asking if what you are doing at a particular moment is really bringing you closer to your goal, or just hindering your growth. And honestly, at 10pm on a Sunday, when you're already over tired, what wilol contribute better to your growth in holiness and love of God- a full nights sleep, or another episode of Family Guy?
Jim Carey once said "The people who make it are the ones who keep going". Now i by no means consider Jim Carey to be a font of life giving wisdom- but his point stands true in every field. If you want something, if you really want it, keep pushing, keep getting closer, keep making sure that every aspect of your life brings you closer to that goal!
I've often heard that everybody at some point in their life wonders what it's all about. I'm not sure if everyone really does question it, but I know I do. Dagwood recently wondered that to himself, and was given a big kiss from Blondie. He decided that that must be what it is all about.
However, as much as getting a big kiss from a gorgeous blond may be a motivating factor, I've discovered in life that that is still not what it is all about. For those of you who think that when you find your spouse and maybe have kids, or get going in that career, or whatever, that life will suddenly become wrought with profound meaning, you are in for a dissapointment.
We know, of course, that what life is actually about is God. God is both our begining and our end. By that I mean that He is the one from whom we came and he is the one that we ought to be dirrected towards in everything. But what does this mean? The old Baltimore Catechism used to teach that we essentially existed to know and love God. And generations of people memorized this answer, so that had you asked them what life was all about, they could answer- but after Vatican II we recognized that this memorized answer did nothing to actually help the people who memorized it to get on with actually glorifying God or loving God with their 'whole heart, soul, mind and strength.'
At reunion we addressed the idea that we need to keep our eyes on the prize- that Christianity is like a race, and, like a race, that we have to keep looking at what we are going towards. Our prize is Jesus. We keep our eyes on Him, and make Him our goal.
But the thing is, you may have heard that, or something like it before, and still it has not sunk in to your interior.
"Where there is no vision, the people perish"- Proverbs 19:18
You may know intellectually that your eventual goal is heaven, or the greater glory of God, or love, or whatever, but do you play that out practically? The Bible says we need to have vision- we need to look ahead and see where we are going so that the little steps we make right now are in the right dirrection!
I also alluded to this at reunion. In the alegorical race, I tend to stop looking at my goal- Christ- and I start looking at myself. I may be trying to guage my own relationship with God and see how I am doing. Or i may just be thinking about how tired I am in the morning, how so and so misjudged me and that's not fair, how intelligent or good looking people think I am...
If we keep our eyes on God- then we'll start living deliberately so that we can get to God. What I mean is, we can start living in order to love God! This has got to be our vision! A lot of times we may want to do a thing that is not necessarily evil, but maybe imprudent- like stay up really late. If you begin to focus in on your vision, see where you wanna go, then you'll start asking if what you are doing at a particular moment is really bringing you closer to your goal, or just hindering your growth. And honestly, at 10pm on a Sunday, when you're already over tired, what wilol contribute better to your growth in holiness and love of God- a full nights sleep, or another episode of Family Guy?
Jim Carey once said "The people who make it are the ones who keep going". Now i by no means consider Jim Carey to be a font of life giving wisdom- but his point stands true in every field. If you want something, if you really want it, keep pushing, keep getting closer, keep making sure that every aspect of your life brings you closer to that goal!
posted by Peter van Kampen at 1:45 PM
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