Good morning, Imagine Church Family and Friends,
Are you a people watcher like me? It’s always rather intriguing while sitting in an airport waiting for your flight to just watch people. Some appear to be happy and excited; they smile when they meet others and often stop to chat even with strangers. Other people seem to shuffle along at a dull and lifeless pace. Every step seems an effort, and they stare into space with eyes clouded in futility. Think of the contrast between these two kinds of people. Has one group discovered a secret the other has not found?
I’ve talked to people who give the impression that life for them is a treadmill. They get up in the morning so they can go to work to come home in the evening so they can rest for work the next morning. The way they express it, life for these people is a monotonous circle. They wonder if it’s possible to break out of their endless prison.
The Old Testament prophet Isaiah asked an interesting question: “Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?” (Isaiah 55:2). We’re all hungry creatures. We are hungry physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally, and it’s often the search for the satisfaction of this hunger that governs our behavior. The problem, however, is that some of the foods we seek never really satisfy.
One of Tolstoy’s best-known short stories is about a man who was promised all the land he could walk around in a single day. At the first hint of dawn, he started out leisurely at first, but with every moment his pace quickened. The word “more” began to throb in the man’s heart and brain. At the last rays of sunset, he flung forward, but his pace had been too taxing. The man died as he fell. The story was entitled, “How Much Land Does a Man Need?” Life can be spent in pursuits that never really satisfy.
However, there are ways to satisfy our hunger with foods that strengthen life and give meaning to it. Centuries ago, there lived a young man in a far corner of the world. He was wealthy and influential, but also tired and bored. He was known for his wild, undisciplined living. Riding along a narrow path one night he met a leper. Revolted at the sight, he turned away. Later, filled with shame, he rode back to help the man. For the first time, the young man felt meaning and direction in his life. He joined a colony of lepers to help them. When his father threatened to disown him, the boy took all his clothes and piled them at his father’s feet. He dedicated his life to helping others. Today, we remember St. Francis of Assisi as one of the greatest saints in the history of humankind.
There is a lesson to be learned from St. Francis. Nothing gives life greater meaning than finding a useful purpose. If life seems less exciting than it should be, the reason could be that we have no compelling purpose. I humbly recommend that we each find something to do every day that will make the load lighter for someone and make the world a better place. People who live this way discover that life is no longer a treadmill, but instead a thrilling journey.
Give yourself to a pursuit that satisfies,
Bruce Jones, Pastor
Imagine Church
