There have been some recent events in my life that have led me to conclude that I have been leading a wonderfully comfortable, safe and satisfying life. However, the fact is that God doesn't call us to comfort, safety or personal satisfaction, at least for their own sake.
Ripping off a little of my pastor's recent series of sermons on Ecclesiastes (my favorite book in the Bible), most of what we do, just for the sake of doing it, is meaningless. We get up, shower, get dressed, eat some food, drive to work, get annoyed, drive home, eat some food, watch TV, go to sleep, lather, rinse, repeat. Yaaaaawwwnnn.
When you look at it this way, that's a pretty meaningless existence. We have a limited amount of time on the planet to live, to make a difference, to affect lives, to use the gifts God's given, to plow a counterculture. How much time can we really devote to the mundane 9-5? How interested is God in this kind of life?
There comes a time when you have to start putting things on the line. Mundane efforts get mundane results- they put food on the table and buy a few creature comforts but little else. Radical risks can result in radical rewards or, of course, radical loss, God willing. Either way, it sure keeps things interesting.
Up until very recently, turning 40 meant resigning myself to comfy, safe and satisfying, which didn't seem SO bad. But now, today, that has changed. I am determined to make the next 10 years a decade of impact and personal transformation. I have been placed in some very unique leadership roles and presented some very unique opportunities. It is time to capitalize on these things. It's time to take some chances and see what God does with it.
I know that many artists and friends read this blog, and I'll let you know, too, that I will not be stopping with myself. I will be extending my personal challenge to those around me, to see what a difference we can make together. We're going to do some crazy things, and then we're going to kick back and watch what God does with it. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
In a nutshell: I am 40.
Youth is wasted on the young.
So I'm stealing some back.
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3 comments:
Sounds better than a sports car or motorcycle, man!
Happy [belated] b-day, Joey!
hi,
I just read your blog post at the emergence site. Looks like we have some things in common... I also turned 40 (ok two years ago but whose counting), I'm a big comic book fan, and I have some artistic creative skills. I took some cartooning at SVA a while back (mainly to learn from Will Eisner), but I decided to get into graphic design instead, so I do some web design work nowadays.
hope to run into you at emergence, I play bass with the band every couple of weeks, so come over and say hi.
paul
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