What Does a Life Worth Living Require?

When people embark on a professional career, they typically have one primary goal in sight: Success. They want to prove their skills at their chosen vocation and then be rewarded accordingly, not only financially but also with promotions, and influence. They want to make their mark and be recognized for it.

 

There comes a time in most people’s working careers, however, when a major shift occurs. The pursuit of success becomes a different quest – for significance. They want to leave a meaningful legacy after they retire or pass from this life. They’d like to feel significant, to have achieved a life worth living.

 

But what constitutes significance? Does it mean leaving a vast inheritance? Giving enough money to an institution to deserve having one’s name displayed on a building? Having an obituary that takes up two entire columns in the local newspaper?

 

I thought about this recently while attending the memorial service for a longtime friend. I met Gene when I joined the staff of CBMC (Christian Business Men’s Connection) more than 40 years ago, and he was truly one of a kind – a master of puns in the silliest sense of the word, but also a person devoted to Jesus Christ and with a passion for offering aid to the poor and disenfranchised in whatever ways possible.

 

The church where Gene’s life was celebrated wasn’t large, but it was jammed. Standing room only. Those attending represented a wide range of demographics: white, African-American, mixed race, wealthy, not wealthy at all, old and young. The one common denominator was their love for this man who is now with the Lord and their appreciation for his often-selfless service and ministry of mercy in their lives.

 

Although a musician, writer, and a noted collector of “neat stuff,” Gene never achieved what one might consider celebrity status. Few of the city’s “movers and shakers” were present for the service. And yet, hearing the moving testimonies, listening to laughter as some of his endearing quirks – including his unique sense of humor – were remembered, and seeing visible evidence of the many people whose lives he had touched in the name of Jesus Christ, I couldn’t help thinking that his was a life of true significance.

 

We become enthralled with the famous – even those who achieve fame simply for being famous. But significance doesn’t require being listed in Who’s Who, or having a lengthy bio on Wikipedia, or having a street named after you. Rather, it’s making a genuine, even life-changing difference in the lives of people with whom we have the opportunity to interact. 

 

In Gene’s case, this included being a one-man “clearing house” for impoverished individuals who came to his church seeking help. Experience had taught him the best assistance isn’t always a handout but sometimes offering a hand-up instead. And in the process, introducing many of them to the Savior who not only could save their souls but also guide them to productive, rewarding lives.

 

Proverbs 3:28 teaches, “Do not withhold good from the deserving when it is within your power to act. Do not say to your neighbor, ‘Come back tomorrow and I’ll give it to you’ – when you already have it with you.” My friend was an expert in heeding this admonition, doing his best to serve as a soldier in the war on poverty. As he often said, “If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach him how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime. And maybe one day, he’ll own the pond.”

 

Many of us on occasion find ourselves wondering what it will be like to take our final breath on Earth and suddenly find ourselves in the presence of the Lord. We do know what Jesus said about those who fulfill the calling God gave to them: “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” (Matthew 25:21). I’m certain this is what Gene heard upon arrival.

 

Despite biblical assurances, it's not uncommon even for folks with implicit faith in Jesus Christ to ponder their eventual death with some trepidation. As the ole “theologian” Woody Allen once quipped, “I’m not afraid of dying. I just don’t want to be there when it happens.” But if we believe what the Scriptures teach, death in this life is simply what I like to term “stepping to the other side of eternity.” 

It’s when God our Father extends His arms to welcome us home. This explains the curious biblical assertion that, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints” (Psalm 116:15). 

Where Are You Looking?

One day I was sitting in class, lost in my thoughts, when one of the tough guys at our school said, “What are you looking at?” I’d been gazing in his direction, so he presumed I was staring at him.

Where we look can make a great
difference in how we see life.

But that question, “What are you looking at?” is valid today. There’s an endless variety of choices for our attention. We have TV programs, an endless array of websites and publications, text messages, billboards, books on any and every topic. Politicians and celebrities share a common demand: “Look at me!”

Recently I read a statement that resonated with me: “If you want to be miserable, look within; distracted, look around; peaceful, look up.” Seems like a good description of many people we encounter every day, even ourselves.

Introspection can be good at times, but as the quote says, too much looking within ourselves can lead to misery. We can become self-critical, self-indulgent or self-pitying, consumed with “me, myself and I” at the expense of others. Someone even created a term for it – navel-gazing.

Then there’s the distraction of continually looking around ourselves. Actor and film director Woody Allen once quipped about being accused of cheating on his “metaphysical exam” because “I was caught looking into the soul of the person next to me.” I’ve never done that, but it’s easy to become consumed with looking at everything happening around us.

When driving, there’s a particular danger of not looking where we should, electing to look at a just-received text, the GPS, or not really looking at anything in particular while engaged in conversations on our smartphones. These days we don’t have to be drunk or under the influence of chemicals to be “driving impaired.” So the adage, “Look where you’re going,” is important.

We become engrossed in learning all we can about the crisis du jour, whether it involves severe weather, terrorism, economic upheaval, or random mayhem. The world around us does seem to be heading to Hades in the proverbial hand basket, and we’re eager to be firsthand witnesses.

Our hobbies and pastimes captivate us, ranging from the Super Bowl and various other major sporting events to vicariously experiencing the lives of people starring in so-called “reality” shows. There’s no shortage of distractions available to us.

But I’ve found the best place of all to look is…up. When I find myself feeling depressed or disheartened, I eventually realize it’s because I’ve spent too much time looking within or looking around. But when I intentionally shift my focus, choosing to look up, I find peace, and hope, and joy, and confidence that things aren’t so bad after all.

Perhaps that’s why the psalmist wrote, “I lift up my eyes to the hills – where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:1-2).

Another psalm declares, “I lift up my eyes to you, to you whose throne is in heaven. As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, until he shows us his mercy” (Psalm 123:1-2).

In the midst of uncertainty, sometimes feeling overwhelmed by chaos surrounding us, God offers assurance: “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).

So the word to the wise: Keep looking up.

Would You Want to Live to Be 120?

If you could, would you choose living to 120 to delay walking into the sunset?

A headline in the morning newspaper caught my eye (yes, vintage newspaper editor that I am, I still read bonafide, hold-in-your-hands newspapers). It read, “Would you want to live to be 120?”

This was the third time recently I’d read about scientists predicting that by year 2050, average Americans will live to 120. Wow! Today, we still recognize people that live to be 100. Imagine in another 40 years or so, when 100 would be “middle-aged”!

According to this particular piece, one person to date has lived to be 122, a woman who died in 1997. I once knew someone claiming to be 122, but he really was only 61. His life had been such a struggle, it just seemed like he’d lived twice as long.

The article predicted greatly increased human longevity could be achieved through “radical life extension,” a combination of science, technology and theory of living, to push the limits of the human lifespan. Sound good to you?

Right now, this question – would you want to live to be 120? – seems the stuff of fantasy for most of us, but it’s still valid to consider. If you could, would you want to live that long?

Before giving my own answer (should you even care), let’s consider a few things. For instance, if the point of living is to postpone death as long as possible, then many people probably would say yes. As someone has said, “No one gets out of this life alive,” so if you can delay the inevitable, why not, right?

Then again, we’d have to assume that current maladies like Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, severe arthritis, diabetes and other diseases that wither body, mind and spirit would have to be overcome. Spending 40 or more years in a care facility with less than full mental faculties and being totally dependent on someone else for routine tasks like eating and changing clothes doesn’t sound like a lot of fun.

Now that I’ve arrived at Medicare age, I already have joints that are prone to get sore, and aches and pains I didn’t experience even 10 years ago. How would I feel 50 or 60 years from now? Would I have to become a bionic man, with every part replaced or refurbished just to get through a normal day?

At present, still being of sound mind (some might disagree!) and feeling like I’m still making a positive contribution to society (some people that have read this blog might really disagree!), life’s good. But 10, 20 or more years from now – who knows?

If people lived longer, their working lives might be extended as well – perhaps to age 80 or 90. Today’s ideal of retiring at 65 would become obsolete. That certainly could ease the Social Security crisis. But how would it affect things like life insurance policies and premiums, or senior citizen discounts?

A study conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project determined nearly 70 percent of adults questioned would like to reach ages between 79 and 100. Almost all of them, I’ve heard, agreed with Woody Allen, who once said, “I’m not afraid of dying. I just don’t want to be there when it happens.”

But once again: Would you want to live to be 120? My answer? No. Definitely not.

Pondering our last days on earth 
need not be approached with fear.

Not only because I wouldn’t want to exist as an addled, helpless senior-senior citizen. Even if I could enjoy reasonably good health and a clear mind, I wouldn’t want to live that long. Why? Because I’m convinced this life is not the destination – it’s only a brief sojourn, kind of preparation for the main event.

That’s not to say I’m planning to depart soon, but if that were to be the case, I believe I’d be ready. I faced that possibility seven years ago before my open-heart surgery. By the day of my operation, I felt ready to stay or go – whichever God decided.

Pondering this reminds me of Titus 2:13, which states, “while we wait for the blessed hope – the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” This “blessed hope” – what’s that all about? I’m looking forward to finding out.

And 1 Corinthians 2:9 declares, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived, what God has prepared for those that love him.” Why doesn’t this passage give more specifics on what we can expect? I think it’s because the finite, time-oriented human mind can’t begin to comprehend the infinite and eternal. Just because we can’t understand it, that doesn’t mean it’s not there.

So even if given the opportunity, I really wouldn’t choose to live to be 120. If the life to come is as great as advertised, I don’t want to wait another 55 years to check it out!