Dear Friends,
This Thursday (dinner at 7pm, program at 8pm) we are continuing our journey with Hem & Haw, Sniff & Scurry as we discover how to deal with change in our lives. All of us have it at one time or another, in one way or another. During the last few weeks of school we are learning how to let God use it for good in our lives. Also, this coming Sunday during worship (8pm) we will begin a time of looking at Radical Discipleship and what it means for our lives. Look forward to seeing you there.
Now for Sami’s Ramblings About Jesus:
I want to say this beautiful, warm and sunny April afternoon, “It is time to live well.” So many times I heard the phrase, “You can’t have your cake and eat it too.” Never knew what it meant until I realized that the purpose of cake is to eat it. If we hold on to it, we can’t eat it. If we eat it, there is nothing to hold in our hands. But holding on to cake when it was made to be eaten destroys its enjoyment value. To be truly experienced and enjoyed, cake must be eaten. Life is like that. It must be lived. Life is such a fleeting gift; it’s very substance is spent in the living of it. We only get one life; we only get to be in this moment, this time, this place, once. And I want to say, live it well; determine now to really live it so that it does not slip by.
Walden or Thurough (one of those dead white guys) said that most men lead lives of quiet desperation. What a sad statement, yet how true. There are those of us who are figuratively standing around holding our cake, never tasting it, simply comparing it to everyone else’s, complaining about its size, wishing we had more, etc. I want to be one of those strong and brave souls who eats and enjoys the cake of life, savoring its flavor and entering into the celebration it represents.
Not sure what this means for you. Sometimes I’m not sure what it means for me, except that I want to enjoy what I’ve been given: relationships, family, meaningful work, possibilities, even my own self, even the opportunity to learn from my mistakes. At the end of the day at the end of my life I want to be able to say that I knew how good life-cake tasted.
Psalms 118:34 says “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Amazing how the simple enjoyment of the life we are given is even a command from God. This is for all you folks (okay, me too) out there who feel guilty anytime you enjoy anything. Here we have a Divine directive to enjoy each and every day--in fact, to find gladness in it.
I want to close with a simple appreciation of a young life well-lived. Allison Carter, a Western sophomore, died Sunday night on her way back to her dorm from worship at the Catholic Newman Center. From those I have talked with who knew Allison, she was living her life well.
Think about your own life today. Entering into the joy of it is the hugest witness we can offer the world. It is the best gift we can give our Life-Giver. It is the one thing that will save us from desperately existing and never really living at all. Trust God that the life-cake He’s given you really does taste good after all.
Blessings,
Sami
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