What Is Important In Your Life?
ON SUNDAY MORNING WHILE I WAS IN CLINTON, TENNESSEE, FOR A SPECIAL RELIGIOUS SERVICE AT FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH A HORRENDOUS ALARM SET OFF AT 6:44 AM. MY INITIAL THOUGHT WAS THAT AN ALARM CLOCK IN THE ROOM HAD GONE OFF. I RAN AROUND THE ROOM BUT COULD NOT FIND A CLOCK, THEN SOMEONE KNOCKED ON THE DOOR AND SAID, "LEAVE LEAVE."
WELL, THE QUESTION IS, "IF YOU WERE IN A SITUATION SIMILAR WHAT WOULD YOU TAKE WITH YOU?" FOR ME I QUICKLY PUT ON PANTS, SHIRT, NO SOCKS, AND UNTIED SHOES. I GRABBED MY BILLFOLD AND A COUPLE OF OTHER THINGS OF VALUE TO ME. ONE OF MY FRIENDS, WHO WAS ON THE FIRST FLOOR, (WE WERE ON THE SECOND FLOOR) TOOK OFF THE SCREEN FROM HIS WINDOW AND DUMPED EVERYTHING OUTSIDE HIS WINDOW.
YES, IT WAS A REAL FIRE. THE FIRE DEPARTMENT SHOWED UP WITH 3 TRUCKS, WITH FIREMAN DRESSEDAS ASTRONAUNTS, AND WITH PRECISION FOUND THE CULPRIT, THE AIR-CONDITIONER UNIT HAD CAUGHT ON FIRE THROUGH FAULTY WIRING. IT WAS AN HOUR AND A HALF BEFORE WE WERE ALLOWED TO RETURN TO THE ROOM, BUT AGAIN, "WHAT WOULD YOU TAKE WITH YOU?"
I KNOW A PERSON WHO HAS OVER $100,000 WORTH OF TOY TRAINS. ON HIS CAR IS THE STATEMENT, "HE WITH THE MOST TOYS WINS!" SOMEHOW THAT DOES NOT BREED WELL WITH ME. NOT A ONE OF US IS GOING TO TAKE ANYTHING WITH US WHEN OUR MORTALITY ENDS.
LAST WEEK, I WENT THROUGH THE HEARST CASTLE. GEORGE RANDOLPH HEARST COULD HAVE ANYTHING IN THE WORLD HE WANTED AND ANYONE WITH ANYTHING OF VALUE KNEW HIS NUMBER. STATUES THOUSANDS OF YEARS OLD WERE AROUND THE CASTLE. THE GREATEST OF ARTWORKS WERE THERE. FROM ALL ACCOUNTS HE WAS A GENEROUS MAN TO HIS FRIENDS. HE RUINED ORSON WELLES CAREER BUT WAS INFLUENCIAL IN MAKING BILLY GRAHAM FAMOUS. "PUSH GRAHAM," HE SAID TO HIS NEWSPAPERS. BUT, IN THE MOVIE, Citizen Kane -- perhaps the greatest movie ever made and supposedly about Hearst-- when he is dying he can only think of one pleasure, his sled named Rosebud when he was 10 years old.
Well what is the purpose of this? What is important in your life? If the fire came what would you take with you? But a bigger question is, "What have you got to give?" Care, comfort, help to others, even a hope.
For you see, the only thing we are really ever going to take with us is what we gave away to others. You think about that !!!
posted by Dan Phillips @ 8:23 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
GOOD ITEM, DAN......What are my dearest treasures? What can I take with me? My own dear mother used to say: "Lord, here I am. The only things I could bring are those things I gave away. The other things I could not bring." Christ reminded us of 'guarding the heart' because out of it comes good or evil. I pray "Cleanse my heart, O Lord, that it might contain only that which pleases Thee.
WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO ME.....Good question, Dan. A day without any prayer or quiet would be hard for me. Prayer and reflection on God have grown so important to me...and I thank Him for this grace. There was a time when I kept Him on a shelf to be brought down only on Sundays...and not all day, either. That is not so now and I praise Him...He has been at work on me...and He is not done yet. So be patient! Great day to you and Janet.
WHAT IS IMPORTANT.......St Augustine wrote: "The lamp does not light itself, so the soul does not give light to itself...God gives it light. Lord, Your beam of wisdom shall come to me...my shadows shall be dispelled...In my darkness, You will light my lamp."
WHAT IS TRULY IMPORTANT......"What shall a man value more than the saving of his immortal soul? What shall be esteemed more precious than that? What exchange would a man take when faced with such a choice?"
Post a Comment
<< Home