UNITED FRIENDS CHALLENGE ONE HUNDRED AND SEVEN....
TRYING TO MEET THE CHALLENGE
React/Respond to the question/topic -
What is the meaning/purpose of life?
I have thought about this quite a lot in the past ten years or so.
I have watched so many of the people closest to me work so hard.. till they had no thought or time for anything but their goal .. no matter what that goal might be.. from simply managing to bring home a paycheck each week.. to trying to build a company from the ground up to be one of the greatest in the country.
I have seen them put off going on vacations.. doing anything that was remotely relaxing or fun.. because they were saving up their money for their retirement.
They lived and worked their entire lives for the days when they could take all the gains from their sacrifice of time in the prime of their lives and relax finally and do all those things they dreamed of doing all their lives.
I grew up in a home that was always filled with love and kindness.. taking responsibility for making our own way and helping others along the way, was our main theme.
All of the years that my parents worked and saved.. never taking anything much for pleasure for themselves.. looking to the years when it was just the two of them.. to enjoy what their hard work had gained for them.. was for nothing when my mother became ill at age 46 with Lupus.
My father developed Emphysema and had to stop working at age 59. They were too sick to do anything they wanted to do then. Their lives revolved around doctors visits and medications.. oxygen bottles.. and ultimately.. everything they had saved and the home they had paid for .. is now mine.
An uncle who was two weeks away from his retirement party.. he and his wife had their fifth wheel travel trailer already packed .. ready to head out on a year long tour of the USA.
He dropped dead of a heart attack two weeks before his retirement party..
All they had waited to do .. all that they had sacrificed to be able to do in their later years.. now belongs to their daughter and son.
An aunt who was nothing but her work.. long long long hours.. worked from a line worker all the way to the head of a department and took early retirement at age 60 because she developed carpal tunnel syndrome.. she had the surgeries.. but that was not the real problem.
She had a terrible disease called sclerderma...
I held her plastic like body when she breathed her last.. one year after retirement.
All that she had worked and saved for .. is now her sons.
My own life is a testimony that no matter what your plan is.. no matter how hard you try.. it can be gone in an instant and what was the meaning to it all? It is all gone now, like a puff of hot wind.
The reason we do this is because this is what gives our lives meaning.
It is the job God gave us at the beginning of our creation. We are to tend His world and His creatures.
We are to be good stewards of all that He created.
We are to be companionship for Him.
We are to multiply our numbers and teach the young this duty we have been given by the Almighty.
That is our job.
This is the meaning of our lives.
Our greatest mistake is to forget whom this world really belongs to. It is not ours.. It is Gods.
It is mankind's' fault that there is death in the world today. Pain and suffering. Inequality, lack, and seemingly wasted effort.
It was not so in the beginning. The nature of mankind brought the things which confound us, and cause us to ask, " WHAT IS IT ALL FOR?"
I will sum this up by telling you this little tale from a day spent at the cemetery, smoothing my fathers new grave into something that could be mowed. I was by myself, and feeling so lonely for just a little visit with my Daddy.
I talked to him the entire four hours I was there working. It was something he and I did well. Work and talk, getting work done and enjoying our time together.
I finished up and put all the tools into the back of his old truck.. got in and said, " Well Dad, if you can, would you give me a little hint as to what I should be doing with my life?"
I said, " I am gona start up Buford ( the name I call dads old truck) and turn on the radio.. and if you can, play me a song .. maybe you could talk back to me that way."
I turned the key.. the truck started..
I turned on the radio and Tim McGraw sang
" Live Like You Were Dying" to me.
I thanked Daddy and I thanked God for allowing me to have the hint.. and then I went home and to this day..
I can't think of one thing I want to do .. that should wait until I am 65 years old to do.
The meaning of life...
IS TO LIVE THEM
Retirement age is something I have never read about in the Bible. The word retirement is not in there.
When you reach the age when your not able to be the steward of the earth... it is usually time to go to our home with God.
What ever He has for me to do for Him when I get there.. only God knows that, best just let that question alone, it will drive you out of your mind. Don't make the mistake of putting off living till later..
That is the Real Purpose of Our Lives...
To Live Them.
I have watched so many of the people closest to me work so hard.. till they had no thought or time for anything but their goal .. no matter what that goal might be.. from simply managing to bring home a paycheck each week.. to trying to build a company from the ground up to be one of the greatest in the country.
I have seen them put off going on vacations.. doing anything that was remotely relaxing or fun.. because they were saving up their money for their retirement.
They lived and worked their entire lives for the days when they could take all the gains from their sacrifice of time in the prime of their lives and relax finally and do all those things they dreamed of doing all their lives.
I grew up in a home that was always filled with love and kindness.. taking responsibility for making our own way and helping others along the way, was our main theme.
All of the years that my parents worked and saved.. never taking anything much for pleasure for themselves.. looking to the years when it was just the two of them.. to enjoy what their hard work had gained for them.. was for nothing when my mother became ill at age 46 with Lupus.
My father developed Emphysema and had to stop working at age 59. They were too sick to do anything they wanted to do then. Their lives revolved around doctors visits and medications.. oxygen bottles.. and ultimately.. everything they had saved and the home they had paid for .. is now mine.
An uncle who was two weeks away from his retirement party.. he and his wife had their fifth wheel travel trailer already packed .. ready to head out on a year long tour of the USA.
He dropped dead of a heart attack two weeks before his retirement party..
All they had waited to do .. all that they had sacrificed to be able to do in their later years.. now belongs to their daughter and son.
An aunt who was nothing but her work.. long long long hours.. worked from a line worker all the way to the head of a department and took early retirement at age 60 because she developed carpal tunnel syndrome.. she had the surgeries.. but that was not the real problem.
She had a terrible disease called sclerderma...
I held her plastic like body when she breathed her last.. one year after retirement.
All that she had worked and saved for .. is now her sons.
My own life is a testimony that no matter what your plan is.. no matter how hard you try.. it can be gone in an instant and what was the meaning to it all? It is all gone now, like a puff of hot wind.
The reason we do this is because this is what gives our lives meaning.
It is the job God gave us at the beginning of our creation. We are to tend His world and His creatures.
We are to be good stewards of all that He created.
We are to be companionship for Him.
We are to multiply our numbers and teach the young this duty we have been given by the Almighty.
That is our job.
This is the meaning of our lives.
Our greatest mistake is to forget whom this world really belongs to. It is not ours.. It is Gods.
It is mankind's' fault that there is death in the world today. Pain and suffering. Inequality, lack, and seemingly wasted effort.
It was not so in the beginning. The nature of mankind brought the things which confound us, and cause us to ask, " WHAT IS IT ALL FOR?"
I will sum this up by telling you this little tale from a day spent at the cemetery, smoothing my fathers new grave into something that could be mowed. I was by myself, and feeling so lonely for just a little visit with my Daddy.
I talked to him the entire four hours I was there working. It was something he and I did well. Work and talk, getting work done and enjoying our time together.
I finished up and put all the tools into the back of his old truck.. got in and said, " Well Dad, if you can, would you give me a little hint as to what I should be doing with my life?"
I said, " I am gona start up Buford ( the name I call dads old truck) and turn on the radio.. and if you can, play me a song .. maybe you could talk back to me that way."
I turned the key.. the truck started..
I turned on the radio and Tim McGraw sang
" Live Like You Were Dying" to me.
I thanked Daddy and I thanked God for allowing me to have the hint.. and then I went home and to this day..
I can't think of one thing I want to do .. that should wait until I am 65 years old to do.
The meaning of life...
IS TO LIVE THEM
Retirement age is something I have never read about in the Bible. The word retirement is not in there.
When you reach the age when your not able to be the steward of the earth... it is usually time to go to our home with God.
What ever He has for me to do for Him when I get there.. only God knows that, best just let that question alone, it will drive you out of your mind. Don't make the mistake of putting off living till later..
That is the Real Purpose of Our Lives...
To Live Them.
Tim McGraw ... Live Like You Were Dying
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UNITED FRIENDS WRITERS GROUP
UNITED FRIENDS WRITERS GROUP
lockerridge
Beautiful! great advice. thank you
ReplyDeleteWonderful blog! Thanks Terri.......hope you have a great week and thanks for the perspective!
ReplyDeleteGood Morning,
ReplyDeleteTrying to get back to work on raising money for the elderly needy.Trying to get settled in two places, trying to get my story posted every morning,trying to get used to not being alone after 20 years, Wow, am I busy. Hoping you are getting back on track after the holidays. Please have a wonderful day.
Cindy's friends have told her to go slow where our relationship is concerned. She told them SLOW?
Heck, we are boh too damn old to go slow. HaHaHa!!
We don't know how many years we have left. There is no sense in wasting a minute pondering. So far we are doing great.
I had to come back to your Story, Lockie. You, dear friend, have been through a lot, and I know this. I also know you are a devout person.
ReplyDeleteWe have to cling to our Faith. This will get us through it all. Live, Lockie! We are given this life, and even if we don't understand all the purposes of our hurts and tests of Faith, we have to continue on. Wealth is nothing compared to Love. Possessions have no value compared to forgiveness of our sins.
(I have to Pray every day for forgiveness; I could have done better; I could have been more patient, etc.)
There IS a reason ..... somewhere. I Love You.
God Bless and Keep You Forever in His Loving Grace, Sweet Lockie.
We could all do worse than live every day as if it is our last. I do so agree with what you have written.
ReplyDeleteMatthew wrote something similar about the stress and strain of toiling ...
"And why are you anxious about what to wear? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin. And yet I say to you, that even Solomon in all his glory is not arrayed like one of these."
Matthew 6:28-29
Gook post. In my line of work I see that death always come too early. Live each day as if it were our last and live without reget
ReplyDeleteMorning Jilly.. feeling bad today huh?
ReplyDeleteWelcome to my blog! Glad you enjoyed my post. It was not an easy challenge this week.. not easy at all!
ReplyDeletethankyou for the well wishes sweetie.. are you feeling better today? You know I think I was not writing alone this morning.. seems like someone was guiding my typing lips today!
ReplyDeleteYou sound chipper today Mikey! I like it!
ReplyDeleteThankyou for the blessings my sweet friend.. I do not know how devout I am.. but I do know who is in charge.. I was shown that quite plainly several times and I hope I learned the lesson well enough He sees fit to let me alone with that one particular lesson!
ReplyDeleteThankyou.. I am so pleased you agree with me.. I take your comments as high praise! I am kind of in awe of you.. lol!
ReplyDeleteI know this to be true for you my friend.. but with your healers heart.. your going to see death more often than others who do not have your heart.. but then again.. you get to see someone who is terribly ill.. become whole and well every day also.. and your can help them to gain that.. And from reading your blogs.. man oh man do you guys live every second of every day to the fullest extent! In short.. you go iggy!
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of the story of the Jar of Rocks. When my hubby was suffering from "workaholicism" I sent this story to him. I think it was the best thing for him because after that he started to realize that we work to live, not live to work.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.gmpiv.com/Philosophy/LifeandGeology.html
Well it is not so much workaholic .. as it is when we are in the years of our life when we are the strongest physically and our health is easily sustained.. and we have kids who need our attention and time.. it seems most of us are scrambling to acquire the dream of owning property and things.. when in reality.. we own nothing. You can't take it with you, and like with my Mom and my son.. she left him quite a bit of money.. a whole lot of money for a 22 year old boy/man to have at his disposal without having to work to earn it.. nor did he have to show something for his spending of it.. like a degree or something mundane like that.. and yes .. he is now 26.. and he is broke.. no degree and works at Olive Garden.. but the party was glorious!
ReplyDeleteSee what I mean.. Daddy worked 7 days a week.. sometimes pulling double shifts, all seven days.. never any time off to spend with mom and me.. and if he did he slept all the time he was off work.. we took one vacation when I was growing up.. one week of driving around the same state we lived in.. I am a real world traveler here! But after all that hard work and dedication to his family and his mortgage and his mom and dad.. all that stuff.. when he was free from the debts and the family responsibilities.. he was so ill he could do nothing to enjoy any of it. As a matter of fact they were so used to squeezing every dime.. they put all of his profit sharing into CDs and never spent any of it..lived on his disability checks every month .. I begged them to go on a cruise.. buy a Winnebago and go to Arizona where the air would be better for Dad.. but nope.. stayed home and did not a darn thing except just dwindle till they are both gone now.
They were good stewards of Gods creation.. except to themselves.. and that is not the way
God intended us to live.. In the Word.. there are lots more festivals than fasts.. lots more!
Oh believe me, I understand totally. When I say he was a workaholic, he did exactly what you said. He spent all his time working for later. But that's not what life is for. That's where the jar of rocks came in for us. For my family it's all about balance, which is a really difficult thing for anyone to recognize, let alone achieve.
ReplyDeleteYes you are so right.. leaving it till later.. turns into too late most of the time.. and that is just not what it is all about.. it is not the plan at all.. not at all!
ReplyDeleteAt least this is what I have found to be what God has lead my life to believe in.. and it was such a wonderful feeling when I finally figured out that I didn't have to be striving so hard all the time.. When you have extra.. save some, give some to God for His blessings of it being available to you.. and spend some on a festival! It is a good thing.. ewww that sounds too Martha Stewart for me! lol..
This is a wonderful reminder to all of us to take advantage of the opportunities we have in life while we can and actually enjoy it. I've struggled with that at times, and I really appreciate this perspective. It reminds me of something my brother said when we argued over toys as children: "It's not yours; it's God's!" Everything belongs to Him; we cannot hold onto it forever.
ReplyDeleteI really loved this blog Lockie, how sad, "I'm really glad to call you a friend" :)
ReplyDeleteThis was beautiful!!! Thanks for reminding me to live like it is my last day!!!!
ReplyDeleteYour challenge took a lot out of me! lol.. It was a very very good challenge SAM! It has generated some of the most thought provoking and absolutely delightful blogs I have ever read. Thanks once again.. and I am glad I helped to make your day feel better.
ReplyDeleteNo not sad any more Freddie.. I have grown scar tissue and it is kinda numb now.. but all that I have felt and all that I have lost.. has taken me to this place today. I realized that day sitting in Daddys truck.. listening to that song.. that God is not mad at me.. He is not mad at anyone. He made us all to do the same thing now as He wanted us to do in the beginning.. but no one sees things as Him being in control.. as their possessions and their place in life as anything but their own doing.. I know better.
ReplyDeletehugs to my friend. freddie. I have always been proud you and I became friends at 360.. your a hoot!
Hi Samantha.. remember over at Dani's blog that day I butted into you guys conversation with the Wisdom of the Bunny with a really pissed off attitude and flung all that advice around..
ReplyDeleteHoney.. life is too short to live like that.. way too short.
~cry~
ReplyDeleteI can't think of one thing I want to do ..
ReplyDeletethat should wait until I am 65 years old to do.
you said a mouthful.
I am a very NOW person.. Tom is not.
I don't wait well.. I don't have time to wait.
we'll do this one day, when we have more money.. we'll have to wait.. WAIT FOR WHAT??
We're gonna add a room. we'll have to do it next year. I have watched one child grow and turn twenty waiting to 'add a room'. .. wait and the room won't be needed..
I think it, I want it.. we get nothing from life except death. God provided all this beauty for us to enjoy and be happy in as we serve him.. mankind has created to many why's what ifs.. to much termoil.
Love your story. Love your comment.
Love you.
''we get nothing from life except death''
ReplyDeletewell, i didn't quite mean that.
Oh no.. no no no.. do not cry.. life is such a mess most of the time with folks fighting each other and themselves to get an inch ahead .. and it really is just such an activity that is futile to try and think that what you have made here on earth is all you will need to keep you happy, safe, healthy and secure.. Those blessings come only from God.
ReplyDeleteGod provides many wonders to behold with the human eye..
ReplyDeleteThe way He goes about giving those things to us is a strange and and just plain weird if you ask me.. a human.
I no longer believe in accidents .. there is a reason behind everything that makes a movement on this planet. and it is all controlled by our Creator. He protects us against ourselves so many times in one day that we just do not even know about, that when we do happen to look at just the right time and notice that the electric cord to our hairdryer is laying on the bathtub we are laying in and it is plugged in.. so we manage to move it, taking the chance of electrocution down to a very small risk.. but we did not see Him physically move it.. what we saw is what He let us see .. so we think we are our own savior.. and give Him no credit whatsoever.
That is what free will is all about in my opinion.. it does take off in a very serious and deep way when you think of sins and us sinning and then repenting ... but it is more than that. It is the way we react to all of the things during our days. What we take credit for and what we give Him credit for. If we take the credit for the things happening all the time.. we begin to think we do not need Him.. that we are doing just fine without having to follow all those really boring rules... That is a BIG mistake!
Remember in my wrap up blog for the years end... when I talked about not waiting around for somebody else to give the go ahead or do the actual work of getting something I wanted.. and how that is about to stop in my life.. then how I needed to think on the miracles of everyday life that just float over my head like so much loud noise in the wind..
This is what I was referring to. If I want something done.. then I am going to do my best to make it happen.. and not expect someone else to do it for me.. that is not putting myself or other people in a position to see who I give the credit to for the accomplishment. Maybe in this way others will know what I have learned and if it is what He wants.. they will learn it to..
I dunno.. I get to have you for a best friend.. and I thank God for that everyday! You be a blessing sweet sister of mine.. I love you too Dani..
ReplyDeleteOH HEY.. IF YOU HAVE A FEW MINUTES TO SPARE.. LOOK UP IN THE COMMENTS UNTIL YOU FIND SUMAXMAIL S COMMENT AND FOLLOW IT BACK AND READ HER BLOG ON THIS SUBJECT.. IF IT IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.. IF NOT LET ME KNOW AND I WILL ASK HER TO OPEN IT FOR A BIT.. IT IS REALLY SOMETHING SO SPLENDID DANI.. IT JUST MAKES SO MUCH SENSE OF A LOT OF QUESTIONS.. EVERYONE ASKS.. I HOPE IT IS LIKE SHE WRITES IT TO BE..
I love this song..I totally agree what you've written here..*hugs*
ReplyDeletea beautiful write up I must say.. so often people forget that we are NOT promised tomorrow.. I often say live for today but plan for tomorrow.. we can't live blindly that tomorrow isn't a reality but at the same time you can't take it with you on to the grave. never leave any I love you or I'm sorry that needs to be said left unsaid. that song came out when my mom had Lung cancer at age 51. she was supposed to be the fun grandmother.. not the one that we buried first of the 2. you never know. Mysty
ReplyDeleteI liked this song a lot before it played that day in the cemetary and I can remember my Dad saying to my son and I both.. Life is the things you enjoy.. not the things you have to do to get by. Always leave room for those things in life which bring you happiness and always remember to include as many people in those things as you can..
ReplyDeleteHe was a beautiful man.. a real man .. and there are very few of those left to set an example for the men of tomorrow. I have to say that when that song came on the radio.. it was starting when I turned the dial to the on position.. it was the very first time, even though I am a Christian and I attended church regularly.. was a Sunday School teacher .. the whole nine yards.. that moment was the first time in my life that I knew God was listening to me .. not just when I pray.. but all the time. And sometimes if we are in his will he will reveal all that wonderfulness to us.
My Dad passed away on Sept.6, 2001.. We buried him on Sept.10, 2001... the next day.. they flew into the World Trade Centers. I was in such a state of disbelief that all that had happened to my sad little family of myself, Mom, and my son.. ( my husband passed away in May of 99) that I just turned off for a while. The things we think we can count on ... can never really be that much in our control that we can say anything is a sure thing. I have searched myself and the people who are a part of my lfie in my family and friends.. trying to find what I had done to bring so much pain into my life and the others I loved.. the church all told me that God was going to use these deaths as a way to bring more people to be saved. I simply can't believe that.. if God was truly like that .. then why not just kill us all off and stop worrying with us.
ReplyDeleteGod did not hatch that scheme to bring terror to the world as we knew it.. man did. God allowed it to continue for a reason I have no idea what could be. And this is the point where my faith was tested severely, the day in the cemetary was the first time in my entire life I knew He listened to me. I knew that He was interested in what was happening within me. Up to that point I had wondered if He listened when I prayed to Him for a request of my own making. And I had wondered why most of the time the answer was NO... I had thought He was angry with me for some reason I could not find.. but He wasn't and still isn't. I just had to learn to accept the fact .. that it is not about me and what I want.. It is about Him and what He wants from me.
>[''it is not about me and what I want.. It is about Him and what He wants from me.'']<
ReplyDeleteThat's it!
We were created by, and praise be to 'GOD' Not - Praise man kind in all his glory.
We have the intellegence to take care of each other and animals and planet.. But the way many live they take and take and take from man and Earth. (It can't be all good , right?) But all god has asked in return is for us to believe and to trust in him and all that he has provided for us.. do we? Do each of us say Thank For the sun shine in the morning? Do each of us say, Thank you I believe in you? no.. Some yes! Some, often. Others seldom. Many once in a while if never.
I so totally believe in fate and desteny. Good and evil. Heaven & Hell. Fly like a butterfly, sting like a bee!
OH! I believe in Aliens too. How can we think that we and all the animals bugs.. are the only life forms here on Earth. There are others out there.. cue ~ The Twilight Zone Music'. neenee neenee neenee neenee.....
On my wat to ''SUMAXMAIL S COMMENT AND FOLLOW IT BACK AND READ HER BLOG ON THIS SUBJECT.. ''
*Applause*
ReplyDeleteThank you .. I never expected this kind of response to my thoughts when I wrote this. I have to say I am thrilled that so many people understand what I have been taught is the meaning of living our lives. The purpose we fill.. and who is responsible for it all. And my responsibility to do my job and live my life doing that thing I was asked to do so long ago from God .. when He made the first mud pie and created a man. .. and then a woman..
ReplyDeleteThis is so thoughtfully written. We MUST live in the here and now, and honor Him with our lives.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you completely my new friend .. He is worthy of our Honoring Him.
ReplyDelete