|
Coming Events
Directions
News & Photos
Links
Sermon Archive
History
Donations
| |
Life is too short to…" – 7/18/04
Read the story "A Room with a View" from Kitchen Table Wisdom written
by Rachel Remen, M.D.
AFTER COMPLETING the last treatment in a year of potent
chemotherapy one of my clients went to San Francisco overnight with her
husband to celebrate. Her oncologist had tried to discourage her from this.
It had seemed rather pointless to him, as she was still far too weak to see
the sights, go to a restaurant, or participate in any of the fabled
activities of this rich and complex city. He couldn't imagine why she might
want to go if she could not do these things, and he had suggested she wait a
few months until she was stronger. But she and her husband had gone anyway
and stayed in a nice hotel.
Afterwards, I asked her about it. "It was wonderful," she
said. "First we ordered room service. They brought it in on a table with a
cloth a half-inch thick. My first meal without a tray. It was so elegant,
the wineglasses and the butter carved into little flowers. And the food! We
sat in this lovely room overlooking a little park and ate real food that I
could actually taste. In the nude. Then we made love. Then we took long,
long hot baths and used up every single towel in the bathroom. Great big
thick towels -- there were twelve of them. And we used up all those
delicious-smelling things in the little bottles. And watched both movies.
And ate most of what was in the little refrigerator. And sat outside on the
terrace in our bathrobes and saw the moon rise over the city. We found all
the pillows that they hide in the dresser drawers and slept in this
king-size bed with eight pillows. And saw the sunrise. We used it all up. It
was glorious!" she said to me, a woman who spends most of the time in a
hotel room asleep.
The woman in this story knew that life is too short to wait for a better
time, a later time, to enjoy what was right in front of her at the moment. Who
knows what her life might have been like a couple of months in the future. She
wanted to celebrate – enjoy – immerse herself in LIVING RIGHT NOW.
Life is to short to…
- Life is too short to live in the past. Remember the good old days… I was
younger… I was prettier… I had a better job… I had more money. For good or ill
we can’t go back in time. We may have wonderful memories of the past and we
can bring those good memories with us – but we can’t recreate them in the same
way. Mar and I frequently tell Sarah stories about when we were children.
Funny things that happened, memorable times and she just loves to hear the
stories. We can pass on good memories, we can learn from our past, and we can
use the past to make a better future.
When we reflect upon the past there will be mistakes we’ve made. There will
be times that we took one path instead of another, and there will be things
that happened to us or we caused to happen to others. There may be regrets,
lost opportunities, and we may wish that things had turned out differently.
Unfortunately we can’t change the past. It’s over – both the good parts of
that and the bad parts of that.
Life is too short to live with regrets, to harbor resentments, to hang onto
mistakes in such a way that it damages the present. Take what is good from the
past. Seek counseling to make peace with the past. Free yourself of those
things that weigh you down – seek forgiveness from another – offer forgiveness
to yourself – make amends. Live in a different way in the present. Seize new
opportunities. The present is right in front of us.
- Life is too short not to accomplish great things. I read this question in
a book recently: "If I were to view my life as an unfolding story, what would
I consider my most important accomplishments?" Would it be the work I do in my
career? Would it be the way I raised my children? Would it be the kind of
person I am as a friend? Would it be the time I spend helping others?
What would you consider your most important accomplishments in life to this
point?
It may be found in the moments you gave to someone who needed a listening
ear. It may be in the time you held your crying child or read a bedtime story.
It may be when you gave your last few dollars to help someone who was in worse
shape than you. Who knows… it could be in the time we spend in church – in the
moments during our week when we pray for others – it might be those times with
God that give us what we need to accomplish great things for God. What would
you consider your most important accomplishments? It might be your life’s
work; it might be those 15 minutes of fame that Andy Warhol said we would each
have. But it really might be found in the moments of our days when we loved
God, others, and ourselves that will be our greatest accomplishments.
- Life is too short to accept scraps or rice cakes. A number of years ago I
was on a diet. I gave up ice cream, cheese cake, apple pie, etc., etc., and my
biggest pleasure was rice cakes. Have you ever eaten a rice cake? They are
like cardboard: tasteless! Need I say more. (I’m not saying don’t live
healthy. I’m not saying don’t do the things that are good for you… that’s
extremely important.) The day arrived when I could not eat one more rice cake
in life!
We each deserve the best that life has to offer.
We each deserve…
 | to be treated with respect. |
| to be loved and to love. |
| kindness and to take care of ourselves. |
| to be happy – to laugh – to experience joy. |
| to eat ice cream instead of rice cakes! |
Life is a banquet… don’t accept scraps.
I put the words of J. H. Roades in your bulletin to take with you this week:
Do more than exist… live!
Do more than touch.,.. feel!
Do more than look… see!
Do more than hear… listen!
Do more than talk… say something!
Life is to short to….?
|
