Sunday, November 15, 2009

A Life Worth Living

Why are we here? What’s life all about? Monty Python


One of the reasons for this blog is to help me to continually work out my place in the world. My wife brought home a book from the library last week called “It’s Not what you Sell, It’s what you Stand For” by Roy M. Spence Jr.

Mr. Spence is a partner at a marketing and advertising firm in Austin TX and has worked with some of the best known brands in the world from Wal-Mart to former president Bill Clinton’s, Clinton Global Initiative. The primary thesis of the book is that you must figure out what you stand for, and align it with your work first and foremost. If you don’t you just bounce from one thing to another without ever making a lasting impact, individuals who don’t understand their purpose float from job to job or relationship to relationship. Purpose is True North on your compass. If you understand your purpose decision making comes down to one question, will this get me closer or further away from True North?

So I’m working on a statement of purpose.

So far I come to the realization that I view human life as absolutely sacred. Whether or not you define life with some divine meaning as I do most of you can agree that all human life is equally valuable. Let me be clear, I am not interested in a debate over the origins of life. Don’t try to draw me into some endless, pointless circle of creationism versus evolution or a pro-life argument over when human life actually begins. I don’t care! Whatever marker you use to define it; Life is Sacred.

With that as my starting point things like war, political oppression, murder, capital punishment, environmental degradation (wilful or inadvertent) the spread of poverty through preventable disease and just plain selfish ignorance are all evil! I would be a hypocrite if I didn’t also acknowledge that as a Christ Follower I stand convicted of every one of these things.

My heart breaks daily;

- When I learn that the average age of girls trapped in prostitution all over the world is 12.
- When thousands die as a Tsunami takes out coastal settlements in Indonesia.
- When children can’t walk safely to school for fear of harassment in Palestine.
- When millions continue to die of AIDS in Southern Africa because they can’t get access to life saving drugs.

But simply stating that Life is Sacred is not a purpose. My purpose in life is not to say that life is sacred and move on. My purpose is to live daily with that realization first and foremost on my heart and react to the world around me in kind.

- Help the prostitute get off the street and find a better life.
- Help clean up and rebuild after the Tsunami.
- Protect children from wars and civil unrest.
- Provide drugs and other life giving services to the sick and dying.

"The true joy of life is being used by a purpose recognized by yourself to be a mighty one." George Bernard Shaw.

Now that is a life worth living.

5 comments:

  1. this morning i found dead cat front door of my house so i take the spade and dug in the garden for burial
    It breaks my heart of grief and i thougt how some persons kill people and there are even stealing from the dead and them body
    and i dont forget when i will die and been under ground in the dark

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  2. Do you ponder exactly what children are taught in school in Palestine? The tragedy is that those running the schools in Palestine have a very radical agenda. The ideal of playing well with others who think differently than you is not something thy spend much time on.

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  3. You talk about helping rebuild after the 2004 Tsunami. Well, in the summer of 2004, I moved to Pensacola Florida. In 2 years, we had Hurricanes Ivan, Dennis, and Katrina. I lived right by the water and I assure you, our coastline looked just like Sumatra. After Ivan, all roads in or out of Pensacola were in the ocean. We didn't complain because the government didn't do this or that. We cleaned up ourselves. I went from landscape design to tree trimming as every tree in the county was down. When the government arrived with help, we were already well into the cleanup process.

    I agree with you trying to help people, but the vast majority of people who get HIV do so by doing things they shouldn't. AIDS is the first disease in world history that could be eradicated completely by human behavior. I support supplying those who need the HIV meds through charities as I we are commanded to help the needy. It is my personal belief however that in most situations, those who contracted HIV bear responsibility for that. Therefore, where we dispense such medications, we should be focusing primarily on education, not medication.

    As for war, it is a Biblical fact that until the end of days there will be "wars and rumors of wars". I am not pro-war, but it is a fact that we must deal with. Think about this: Peter used a sword on a Roman soldier that was there to arrest Christ. Now I have studied Roman as well as 1st century Jewish culture and a Roman soldier would not just let someone cut his ear off as it would bring disgrace to his whole unit. So here we see that very likely Peter defeating one of the best trained soldiers in the world in some kind of skirmish. Now did Jesus chastise Peter for having the sword? Did he tell Peter that carrying that sword was wrong? No. He told Peter to put it away as he healed the Roman soldier. Do you ever picture Christ not having a problem with his closest followers carrying weapons? The Jews had been taught wrongly for centuries that the "messiah" would be a military hero that would overthrow the empires that had long suppressed the Jews. So in order for people like the Apostles to come to conclusion that Christ was the "Messiah" there must have been far more to the story than just miracles and healings, and parables. The fact is, it was a rough neighborhood that they were in. Defending yourself was a part of everyday life. The fact that Christ was able do do what he did in that environment makes the story of our salvation that much more of a miracle.

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  4. If Christ didn't have a problem with Peter carrying a weapon he surely had a problem with him using it. The fact that Jesus healed the Roman's ear says more about his respect for the humanity of the Roman that it does for any implied approval of Peter carrying the weapon. Blessed are the Peacemakers.

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  5. "but the vast majority of people who get HIV do so by doing things they shouldn't."

    It's that kind of thinking that is killing people!

    My cousin is a firefighter in Calgary. When he arrives on the scene he doesn't stand outside lecturing the home owner on firesafety while the house burns down. Africa is burning, now is not the time to debate the causes, just pick up a hose and get it undercontrol!

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