"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." - Mahatma Gandhi
As I walked into the hospital room and toward her bed I could feel the sobering reality of all things meaningful and true. There was our precious sister laying miraculously alive. Yes, she carried, in body and mind, the memories of the terror's moment, but she was alive! Why does it take tragedy to open our eyes to the true value of life? What is it about this carnal nature that assumes the position of 'death at a distance', as though death and tragedy only happens to other people? How often does misfortune or calamity have to occur before we truly wake up and 'see' beyond the appetites of our fleshly tabernacle? In the big picture of living, if life is but vapor, then why do we so often waste our steam on things of little or no value? So quickly we forget we are more than just earthen vessels of flesh and blood. "We are not human beings on a spiritual journey. We are spiritual beings on a human journey." (Stephen Covey)
Art Buchwald said, "The best things in life aren't things." The sobering reality is life is NOT about houses, lands, and material possessions. Life is not about all gaining, getting, and gathering, but life is about relationships. For what is a moment in life if that moment cannot be shared? The true value of living our life comes in the quality of our relationship with God, family, and friends. Though we seemingly know this, it also seems, from time to time, we must be reminded by the reality of life's fragility. One moment you are caught up in the whirling seduction of the flesh and in the next moment you are twirling through the air watching your life pass before your eyes. "We cannot truly face life until we face the fact that it will be taken away from us." (Billy Graham) None of us, no, not one of us has the promise of tomorrow. As a matter of fact, none of us has the promise of the next breath. And if this is true then there is no such thing in anyone's life as an unimportant day. Every breath and every moment has value for these are the deep things that make up the day. I have heard it said that life is not about quantity but more about quality and many times I have witnessed how much quantity always seems to suffocate the quality.
Yes, today is the second weigh in and the scale will reveal the truth about how we lived this last week. But today, I want us to take a moment and meditate on the true meaning of this game. Is it to win the pot of gold at the end of rainbow? Is the game just being used to slim down and get 'sexy' so we can gain the attention of flesh? OR is there something bigger at stake...something that far outweighs the measurable pounds lost and the visual manifestation of a smaller version of you? The truth about the contest can only be found within the hidden motives of the contestant. I can tell you and encourage you to 'see' beyond the scale and into a reality that hides behind the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, but only you, the contestant can search your own heart. So it is true we will step on the scale today, and the numbers will tell a tale, but don't forget we are also being weighed in the balances of a sobering reality...life is far more than anything we can see, touch, feel, hear, or taste. Job saw it and said this way, "Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine integrity." (Job 31:6)
When we get on the scale today, I want everyone to take a moment of time and think of our precious Sister Wendy Sowards, who lays in a hospital bed...broken and yet alive! Last week she weighed in and entered the contest and today her life has brought us back to the only scale that matters in this life and beyond. From this day on, we are going to dedicate this contest to her. Why? Because only a life lived for others is the life worthwhile. Although we are losing weight and learning to live a healthier lifestyle, if it is only being done for me, myself and I, then we have lost the point and true meaning of the game. We are doing this because if we better ourselves, we then can become a betterment to the Kingdom of God, our families, and the world around us. “There is nothing we like to see so much as the gleam of pleasure in a person's eye when he feels that we have sympathized with him, understood him. At these moments something fine and spiritual passes between two friends. These are the moments worth living.” (Don Marquis)
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