Forgetful
Posted on October 5th, 2006
Sometimes our world seems very surreal.
I read philosophy and theology and get swept away by all of the thoughts and ideas, the “big picture.” I forget that there is a reality out there. I forget that there are parents mourning their children, men frustrated by another dead-end job lead, college students scared about the future, citizens wondering if the next drunk driver is going to hit them, families trying to decide what to have for dinner, communities seeking to figure out how to best use their resources to benefit everyone, cronies in politics and business grabbing everything they can for themselves, the poor trying to get a share of the pie – whether or not that share is “fair,” children trying to remember their multiplication tables, immigrants wondering if their dreams are going to be dashed, fanatics plotting their next show, artists struggling to get their ideas out. In short, there really is life out there. There is a point to our ideas, our theologizing, our work. And the point is to help people to live, and to live well – to the fullest.
Everything else is vanity and a chasing after the wind.
But sometimes I just get caught up in the ideas for the sake of the ideas, with no respect of the point: people living. I tend to like to think seemingly just for the sake of thinking. But there is more than that, particularly as a minister (or maybe that really makes no difference). People are in the crossfires of everything we do. People are the point. To help people live well – live fully.
Sometimes I forget.
Tags: Life in general
Filed under Ponderings |