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Immanuel Baptist "On the Journey" Articles |
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| On the Journey Begin with the end in mind . . . live each day with eternity in mind! Somewhere out there is a saying of folk wisdom that goes like this: “Begin with the end in mind.” I refer to this saying as folk wisdom because I don’t believe you will find it among the words of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, or any of the other great philosophers. I don’t believe this bit of wisdom flowed from one of the ivory towers of philosophical reflection on some university campus. No, this wisdom sounds to me like it rises from the events of simple life experience. I’m not sure how it all happened, but I came to be in a world filled with expressions of folk wisdom. As I grew, I took them to heart, and many of them became guiding principles for my life’s journey. The phrase, “begin with the end in mind,” influenced my parenting significantly. Very early, when my sons came along and the responsibility of parenting fell on my shoulders, I envisioned the men I wanted my sons to become. I asked myself, “What kind of men do I want these boys to be when they are 21?” I envisioned sons who lived with integrity, honored truth, and clearly understood the difference between right and wrong. When they became young men, I wanted them to be disciplined, compassionate to others, fair in their dealings, generous in sharing, faithful to Jesus Christ, and committed to the kingdom of God. This was a vision Rita and I had to share, for parenting is hard work and requires a united front. Very early, we realized that parenting was a daily task. Teachable moments had to be seized whenever they popped up. Life’s lessons had to be learned, and sometimes these lessons were difficult for both our sons and for us. Respect for one another had to be continuously renewed. Most important of all, we had to accept and embrace their uniqueness. These two boys, though they were our sons, sometimes didn’t sound nor act like Rita or me. Perhaps the thing I did not anticipate was the struggles Rita and I would face as we sought to nurture in our young boys the men we envisioned. It took discipline to set boundaries and to stick to them. Wisdom was required to negotiate new situations we did not anticipate. We had to trust our friends to share our vision and to help us mold the young men we desired. There were difficult choices to make and to stand by. Parenting with “the end in mind” provided some courage for the difficult times. Yes, we made decisions that made our sons angry. There were rules they thought were unfair. We endured sullen faces at the dinner table. Words were hurled back at us to make us feel guilty or to doubt the wisdom of our decision. Yet, for me, I could endure the anger, the silence, and the frustration because I had the end in mind. At 10, it didn’t matter to me how mad they might seem, for I had my mind set on what I wanted them to be at 21. In the brief arc of my life, I have learned the value of beginning with the end in mind when it came to being a parent. Recently, I have begun to hear Jesus emphasizing the same bit of wisdom. He calls us to live each day with eternity in mind. When you pause to think about it, our lives are certainly very brief spans. If you make it 80 or 90 or even 100 years on this earth, your life is very brief against the backdrop of eternity. Beginning with eternity in mind informs this teaching of Jesus: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”[Matthew 6:19-21] In the immediacy of daily living, the treasures of earth appear to have ultimate value to us. Yet, there is nothing in this life that is permanent. Everything we possess will someday belong to someone else. Some of those things most valuable to us will go cheaply in a yard sale hosted by heirs. The diplomas, plaques, and awards hanging on the walls in our offices and homes will go to the dump by the time our grandchildren get hold of them. No matter how fine we believe our reputations to be, one will not have to look far to find someone who holds us in contempt. The life of faith calls us to keep eternity in mind. We celebrate this day as gift of God with eternal implications. We endure the sufferings and sacrifices with an eye on eternity. As the Apostle Paul wrote, “I consider that the sufferings of the present time not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us.”[Romans 8:18] We persevere in the faith believing that one day God will, in His way, make things right. We believe this even if all he can do is wipe the tears from our eyes. To live faithfully, we must live with eternity in mind. On this journey of life and faith, we all need friends who help us live with the end in mind. We need fellow pilgrims who remind us to live daily with our focus on eternity. Yes, we even need a community of faith people to help us do this. May Jesus himself lead these friends, pilgrims, and communities into our lives, so we may life with eternity in mind. jamie |
Website last updated: Thursday, September 27, 2006 Website Related Questions/Comments: Chris Cash-ccash@vci.net |
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Immanuel Baptist Church - 3465 Buckner Lane - Paducah, KY, 42001 - 270.443.5306 - www.immanuel-paducah.org |