In the brief past year and a half, I have been given many titles. I was a program associate, a teller, a photographer, an editor, a videographer, a graphic designer, a stranger, a friend, a teacher, a missionary, a student, a daughter, a sister, and most recently, a Marketing Media Specialist. Today, all of those still reside in me to some degree. The titles I hold closest to my heart are some of God's profound work of reconciliation in my life.
We all take many different roles. And just as Andy (the author to an excerpt in my february post) said, these "will be the most fleeting thing" about us. And just like Steve, I hope that I would be remembered by how I have lived my all and how I've made the people that I have encountered, no matter where I was in life, feel loved, known, and heard. I wish more people told me a life that was precisely like that will require a thing called making sacrifices. Perhaps I would've been more aware of it then. I think many who have gone before me knew of this. Even so, how I hope people will see my heart in the future, that is entirely up to how I choose to live my life for the Lord today. My life, I reckon, is ultimately the sum of the days I have now. All of which leads to God, who is the Alpha and Omega. In the words of Brooke Fraser's The Hymn, "You are the sum/You are the One".
Whoever first described life as a journey was probably correct. For those who have the fortune, they get to carry a few things with them at the start of the journey. Overtime, no matter who we are, we pick up new things along the way. For those who grow wise, they learn the pleasure of laying things down. And as we grow, we learn to let go of things by choice in order to pick up the things we deem more worthy to carry, no matter the cost.
When we think about our purposes and callings on earth, I do agree it is to bear the image and restore the image in the world. The question remains is: How do we reflect that our Father in heaven is someone who knows each and every single person by name? That has to change the way we encounter people, doesn't it?
From the radio, I heard teachings of the Samaritan extending compassion to a fallen enemy by the roadside. It was something despicable. Samaritans hated the Jews, and the Jews hated Samaritans. It had been an age old strife. Neither side should have had any business with one another. But a bridge was crossed, when one really saw, and not just looked, the other who was robbed, beaten, and rendered helpless.
The next time I look around, I pray that I am able to continuously see people deeply again. To know pain and call it out. To know beauty through my relationship with Christ, and be called out. To know God's joy and pleasures forevermore as I rest in his presence.
What does it look like to make the most of whatever is given to us today?
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This past Sunday, a few friends of mine were leaving church as we looked for lost keys. I saw Rick walk in the opposite direction towards Phase I. Something in me urged me to say hello. The next 30 minutes that followed were like water to my parched soul as he shared about his recent trip to Western China. The encouragement he witnessed and gave, the songs and testimonies him and his group shared.... The light in his eyes as he was sharing his experience and his joy with the three of us.... surely where his heart is is not somewhere where moth and dust can go, steal, and destroy. No, it was something far more eternal and valuable.
