Buried to Life
What would you think if I said that most people die around the age of 25? Without question, some may exceed that and live well into their 30's. Here is the kicker, even though most people die young that are not buried until much later in life. Yes, it is true, that to live is the rarest thing, most people just exist. If you feel like you are a walking zombie just passing time until the final summit, let's see if we can somehow resurrect your will to rise and thrive.
As many of you know I do not usually write about Bible stories, but for the sake conversation I am going to create a parallel between the parable of The Good Samaritan and our passion of life. The journey will be interesting, so buckle up and let's go.
Let me set the stage for you. In the parable we see a man (possibly a Jew) laying on the side of the road. He has been robbed, beaten, and left to die. The scene plays out with a priest coming by, naturally one would have thought that a man of faith would stop and help, yet the story says he walked by without notice. Next up was a Levite, they too were a religious tribe with political connections. They were know for being neighborly and helping those in need, yet he too walked past the dying man. Then we see the Samaritan man approaching. As you may know Samaritan's and Jew's did not associate with one another at all. Naturally we would assume that the Samaritan man would also walk on by, BUT, the opposite happened. Not only did the Samaritan stop and check on the man, he cared for him and took him to a place to where he could heal. Interesting, the first two we would have expected to help and they didn't and the last we would have expected to walk on by, but stopped.
In life there are so many people, things, issues, schedules, etc tugging at our emotional sanity from the time we get up till the time we go to bed. It seems like nothing is lifting us up, it is only tearing us down. There are times we all feel like the man that was robbed, beaten, and left for dead. Everyone walks by yet know one stops to help. You see the life allegory here I'm sure, now let's spin it around. Which of three passerby's best represents you? To help bring this story to life let's update it some.
We live in a social media driven world. People that were once nice and thoughtful have suddenly become bullies and cynical. There was a time in life that no one would dare say to others what is said on Facebook and Twitter. Consider the polarity of the election season. The two parties are as divisive as the Samaritan's and the Jew's. The only difference now verses then is how we spin the truth in an effort to force another to believe as we do. The tactics are vicious and no one seems to care anymore. Social media has robbed many people of love and affection, it has beaten us down to the point we do not even know who we are anymore, and worse if we do not adhere to the bully threats that play out we are left on the road for dead. You think politics stimulate bitterness in people, it is nothing compared to the evil that plays out every minute of every day on social media. Everyone feels as though they have a right to be mean. The truth is, absolutely you do have that right. Consider the above parable though, are you helping or hurting?
Let's keep going for a minute. Are you a bridge builder or a ditch digger? Bridges unite, ditches divide. I wonder how many are aware of the abuse that goes on behind closed doors right in our own neighborhoods, possibly in your home. It may be emotional, physical, or sexual. More times than not the abuser works to create so much self doubt in a person that they believe they are not worthy to be treated good. Some on the outside witness what is going on yet they choose to walk on the other side of the street. Behind many smiling faces are wounded souls, yet very few encounter the Good Samaritan that is willing to risk it all to help another. As I write this I want you to keep thinking to yourself, what is your roll in this roadway of life. My guess is that we will all need help sometimes in our life and we will all have the opportunity to choose to help at sometimes in our life.
Our lives are littered with people silently screaming for help. The cries are so faint yet so piercing. Some walk on egg shells to merely get through the day without an incident, while others throw eggs maliciously not caring who they hurt. Everyday we step over, walk past, and ignore those that are left on the road for dead. You may be the person that is beat down or one of the three walking by, hopefully you are the Samaritan that stops to help.
I wish I had all the answers for life. The one thing I do know is that life is worth living. If we are breathing we have hope and with that comes passion and finally our discovery of purpose. No matter how bad life gets we simply cannot die young and spend the rest of our days waiting to be buried. We have to believe every minute of every day that something amazing is about to happen. I do know without a shadow of a doubt that you have so much in you that has yet to come out. I'm not talking about talent, ambition, bucket list, or dreams, I am talking about love. When we discover and accept that love will always have power over hate, then and only then can we begin to understand how life is truly meant to be lived.
Why die at 25 or 30 when you can live all the way up to the end. Let me share one last thing as we bring this to a conclusion. I have personally been to Moron Haiti that has just been devastated by Hurricane Matthew. So many are left for dead, many more dying of hunger, and even more dying of disease. We here in the land of comfort see the images on TV or other forms of media, we feel bad for a few seconds and then migrate back to our extremely comfortable life that we consider uncomfortable. Trust me while we are moaning about our problems those people wish they had what we complain about. Obviously we can't all run help everyone in need, however we can start by appreciating what we have. When our hearts soften love flows forth. Before we know it Good Samaritans will be everywhere. We will not concern ourselves with the divisiveness of politics, gender, sexuality, or socioeconomic status, we will view each other as God's greatest miracles. We were given the freedom to choose life or death. Life is love and death in this story is bitter darkness. In closing please remember that the person you see in the mirror is the one most responsible for changing your life. Make sure you treat that person with total respect. Now let's go back to the story for one final time.
My hope is that when in need you will encounter a Good Samaritan and when you see someone in need you will be one.
God bless
Dale
As many of you know I do not usually write about Bible stories, but for the sake conversation I am going to create a parallel between the parable of The Good Samaritan and our passion of life. The journey will be interesting, so buckle up and let's go.
Let me set the stage for you. In the parable we see a man (possibly a Jew) laying on the side of the road. He has been robbed, beaten, and left to die. The scene plays out with a priest coming by, naturally one would have thought that a man of faith would stop and help, yet the story says he walked by without notice. Next up was a Levite, they too were a religious tribe with political connections. They were know for being neighborly and helping those in need, yet he too walked past the dying man. Then we see the Samaritan man approaching. As you may know Samaritan's and Jew's did not associate with one another at all. Naturally we would assume that the Samaritan man would also walk on by, BUT, the opposite happened. Not only did the Samaritan stop and check on the man, he cared for him and took him to a place to where he could heal. Interesting, the first two we would have expected to help and they didn't and the last we would have expected to walk on by, but stopped.
In life there are so many people, things, issues, schedules, etc tugging at our emotional sanity from the time we get up till the time we go to bed. It seems like nothing is lifting us up, it is only tearing us down. There are times we all feel like the man that was robbed, beaten, and left for dead. Everyone walks by yet know one stops to help. You see the life allegory here I'm sure, now let's spin it around. Which of three passerby's best represents you? To help bring this story to life let's update it some.
We live in a social media driven world. People that were once nice and thoughtful have suddenly become bullies and cynical. There was a time in life that no one would dare say to others what is said on Facebook and Twitter. Consider the polarity of the election season. The two parties are as divisive as the Samaritan's and the Jew's. The only difference now verses then is how we spin the truth in an effort to force another to believe as we do. The tactics are vicious and no one seems to care anymore. Social media has robbed many people of love and affection, it has beaten us down to the point we do not even know who we are anymore, and worse if we do not adhere to the bully threats that play out we are left on the road for dead. You think politics stimulate bitterness in people, it is nothing compared to the evil that plays out every minute of every day on social media. Everyone feels as though they have a right to be mean. The truth is, absolutely you do have that right. Consider the above parable though, are you helping or hurting?
Let's keep going for a minute. Are you a bridge builder or a ditch digger? Bridges unite, ditches divide. I wonder how many are aware of the abuse that goes on behind closed doors right in our own neighborhoods, possibly in your home. It may be emotional, physical, or sexual. More times than not the abuser works to create so much self doubt in a person that they believe they are not worthy to be treated good. Some on the outside witness what is going on yet they choose to walk on the other side of the street. Behind many smiling faces are wounded souls, yet very few encounter the Good Samaritan that is willing to risk it all to help another. As I write this I want you to keep thinking to yourself, what is your roll in this roadway of life. My guess is that we will all need help sometimes in our life and we will all have the opportunity to choose to help at sometimes in our life.
Our lives are littered with people silently screaming for help. The cries are so faint yet so piercing. Some walk on egg shells to merely get through the day without an incident, while others throw eggs maliciously not caring who they hurt. Everyday we step over, walk past, and ignore those that are left on the road for dead. You may be the person that is beat down or one of the three walking by, hopefully you are the Samaritan that stops to help.
I wish I had all the answers for life. The one thing I do know is that life is worth living. If we are breathing we have hope and with that comes passion and finally our discovery of purpose. No matter how bad life gets we simply cannot die young and spend the rest of our days waiting to be buried. We have to believe every minute of every day that something amazing is about to happen. I do know without a shadow of a doubt that you have so much in you that has yet to come out. I'm not talking about talent, ambition, bucket list, or dreams, I am talking about love. When we discover and accept that love will always have power over hate, then and only then can we begin to understand how life is truly meant to be lived.
Why die at 25 or 30 when you can live all the way up to the end. Let me share one last thing as we bring this to a conclusion. I have personally been to Moron Haiti that has just been devastated by Hurricane Matthew. So many are left for dead, many more dying of hunger, and even more dying of disease. We here in the land of comfort see the images on TV or other forms of media, we feel bad for a few seconds and then migrate back to our extremely comfortable life that we consider uncomfortable. Trust me while we are moaning about our problems those people wish they had what we complain about. Obviously we can't all run help everyone in need, however we can start by appreciating what we have. When our hearts soften love flows forth. Before we know it Good Samaritans will be everywhere. We will not concern ourselves with the divisiveness of politics, gender, sexuality, or socioeconomic status, we will view each other as God's greatest miracles. We were given the freedom to choose life or death. Life is love and death in this story is bitter darkness. In closing please remember that the person you see in the mirror is the one most responsible for changing your life. Make sure you treat that person with total respect. Now let's go back to the story for one final time.
My hope is that when in need you will encounter a Good Samaritan and when you see someone in need you will be one.
Dale
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