Countless people are on an endless quest for meaning. Their search takes them to places they never thought they would be and do things they never thought they would do. This might describe some of our lives in the past or maybe even today. While some of our experiences can bring temporal satisfaction they never seem to last.
Without a deep sense of purpose our lives can be like experiments searching for that elusive thing, experience or person. Unknowingly, we can get so easily absorbed into today’s cultural definitions of success and personal realization that we just might find we’re living lives that could be described as…
The Lonely life
Unprecedented access to social networking has not taken loneliness away. Loneliness is no stranger to socially connected people. Feeling alone has never been more epidemic. We long to know and be known, but our fears and habits make it difficult to give or we feel vulnerable to injury in relationships and we often keep our stories of struggle or confusion to ourselves.
We’re afraid of getting close. We choose proximity without intimacy. Our hearts are heavy and alone.
The Imposter’s life
Appearance is more important than substance. What matters most is what we appear to be. Sadly, we doubt that much beyond appearance can be found anyway. It’s “all good,” I don’t need to know about your problems, distractions or complications. It’s Margarita-ville, don’t you get it?
As Mark Labberton said, “The imposter’s life is simply not full of pretense; it allows someone to think about us the way they want without actually disclosing who we really are. Since “it’s all good” there’s nothing to worry about.”
The Consumer’s Life
Life isn’t about who you are but about what you have, because what you have tells you who you are. Google knows that what we pursue as consumers, of culture, of goods, of experience, of taste, are the things that feed our consumption and increase our desire for still more.
The Fearful Life
Real and imagined dangers exist all around is. We can be paranoid or obsessive. Fear can be tamed, but is readily accessed with the right triggers of getting it wrong, not being seen, being hurt, experiencing violence, losing control, failing, getting over- looked, doing damage, causing pain, misspeaking…
Begin Where You Are
We may be privileged or deprived, but living with these kinds of patterns sets the trajectory for our lives. We can live much better lives. How can things be different? As Bob Dylan, said, “it may be the devil or it may be the Lord, but no matter who you are, you’re gonna have to serve somebody.”
Jesus says to all His disciples, “follow me.” If we want to truly follow Him we need to start where we are, not where we’d like to be, whether it’s at work, home or in our neighborhoods.
Following Jesus starts here. It starts with learning to see the people that we regularly see in a different light, as made and loved by God, that because they matter to God they matter to you and me.
When we truly see others as God sees them we can love our neighbors as ourselves. And when we do we will whine less about the world. Do you want your life to be more of an adventure rather than the mundane lives most people live? Are you ready to dive in? Are you ready for some fun and sacrifice? You won’t regret it and God will be pleased.
