For those of you who haven't seen an episode of Scooby Doo, "Zoiks" is the universal exclamatory phrase one would hear when a character was either startled, excited, or possibly a little freaked out. I, for one, recently experienced a "moment of exclamation"...a moment in which I simultaneously felt startled, excited, and a little freaked out. All at once. What was I doing and what had I just eaten? Nothing out of the ordinary could be said about that day or that moment, other than the fact that I was suddenly was struck with the reality that I am (at least statistically or hypothetically) more than halfway home...and so are many of you.
First, let's deal with this "halfway" thing. To be honest, I really don't know if I'm just over halfway home or 90% of the way home. For sake of this conversation, I'm defining "home" as that moment when time ends and eternity begins. The average life expectancy is roughly 70 years of age for a healthy adult male. Therefore, as a recent convert to life as 35-year-old, that makes me "over the hill". People who think the crest of the hill takes place at 40 are either procrastinating their acceptance of reality or are a bit rusty at math.
Last fall my mother died of a brain tumor. She was 69. Interestingly, I was 34.5 years old at the time. Exactly half of her age. For me, this was the beginning of a reality check for me and my life. The reality check didn't really settle in until yesterday. Why yesterday? I can't really put it into words...mostly because it is a culmination of so many things. Subsequent blogs might be devoted to exploring this. All I know is that something (or rather someone, namely the Holy Spirit spoken of in the Bible) brought this to my mind. And in that instant I knew I had to write this blog.
Now, allow me to be morbid for a moment (and you sort of have to since this is my blog). If I die tomorrow, I'm still more than halfway home today (Well, in that case, far more than halfway home). In fact, I'll be more than halfway home from this moment on. Maybe this new awareness is simply what others call their midlife crisis. But this is different, I must believe. You see, this doesn't feel like a crisis. On the other hand, maybe I should speak of it in "crisis" terminology. Then I could rationalize doing something wild and crazy like buying a sweet set of hog wheels (a Harley, of course) ...something that has been an unrealistic dream for years.
As a Christian, this new awareness doesn't scare me, but rather it infuses great passion and zeal into my life...a life that is shorter than any of us can grasp. This truth is profound: life is short and eternity is long. Too much of my half-life (scratch that...let's call it part one in a three part series) has been spent answering questions like, "What do I want in life", or "What do I want to pursue", or "What cool, exciting, and fulfilling activities can I experience." Let me tell you, there are a lot of people who have answered all of those questions and are still empty as a zero with the rim off (you'll have to visualize that one to fully appreciate it).
[By the way, how long should blog entries be? this is my first blog, and I don't read a lot of blogs, so is BC...blogically correct...if I ramble on a bit more to really set the stage for the future of this blog? Wait, am I supposed to ask questions? Well, maybe I'll never know because this blog won't be found and read, which is OK. It really serves a primary function of helping me put into words what God is doing in my heart and that is more than enough reason to keep on writing. I'm going to want to remember all of this someday. Continue Roger...]
Because I am a Christian, I MUST tell you all why I'm a Christian and invite you to consider the claims of Jesus Christ for yourself. Why must I do this? He created me, died for me, and has commissioned me to tell the world about Him. In fact, every true Christian can (and should) say the same thing. Christians don't proclaim Jesus Christ because we think we're more intelligent, articulate, or better people. Quite the opposite. For me to proclaim to you that Jesus Christ is my Savior and Lord, I am admitting to you that I am a sinner (1 Corinthians 2:1-5), imperfect, and in need of The Holy God to forgive me of my sin. No person ever became a Christian through intelligence, personal goodness, or simply by going to synagogue or church (a car doesn't become a car by sitting in a garage). For those of you who aren't familiar with Jesus Christ and "Christianity" (the life of one redeemed by and committed to Jesus), may this serve as an "on ramp", introducing you to the most amazing, abundant, and incredible journey you could ever imagine.
In my next blog installment I'll rewind the videotape back to July 24, 1986. A very special day, indeed. Until then, friends, ponder the words of James 4:14...
Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"-- yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.
I'll meet you here again, and soon...provided that my mist hasn't vanished.
First, let's deal with this "halfway" thing. To be honest, I really don't know if I'm just over halfway home or 90% of the way home. For sake of this conversation, I'm defining "home" as that moment when time ends and eternity begins. The average life expectancy is roughly 70 years of age for a healthy adult male. Therefore, as a recent convert to life as 35-year-old, that makes me "over the hill". People who think the crest of the hill takes place at 40 are either procrastinating their acceptance of reality or are a bit rusty at math.
Last fall my mother died of a brain tumor. She was 69. Interestingly, I was 34.5 years old at the time. Exactly half of her age. For me, this was the beginning of a reality check for me and my life. The reality check didn't really settle in until yesterday. Why yesterday? I can't really put it into words...mostly because it is a culmination of so many things. Subsequent blogs might be devoted to exploring this. All I know is that something (or rather someone, namely the Holy Spirit spoken of in the Bible) brought this to my mind. And in that instant I knew I had to write this blog.
Now, allow me to be morbid for a moment (and you sort of have to since this is my blog). If I die tomorrow, I'm still more than halfway home today (Well, in that case, far more than halfway home). In fact, I'll be more than halfway home from this moment on. Maybe this new awareness is simply what others call their midlife crisis. But this is different, I must believe. You see, this doesn't feel like a crisis. On the other hand, maybe I should speak of it in "crisis" terminology. Then I could rationalize doing something wild and crazy like buying a sweet set of hog wheels (a Harley, of course) ...something that has been an unrealistic dream for years.
As a Christian, this new awareness doesn't scare me, but rather it infuses great passion and zeal into my life...a life that is shorter than any of us can grasp. This truth is profound: life is short and eternity is long. Too much of my half-life (scratch that...let's call it part one in a three part series) has been spent answering questions like, "What do I want in life", or "What do I want to pursue", or "What cool, exciting, and fulfilling activities can I experience." Let me tell you, there are a lot of people who have answered all of those questions and are still empty as a zero with the rim off (you'll have to visualize that one to fully appreciate it).
[By the way, how long should blog entries be? this is my first blog, and I don't read a lot of blogs, so is BC...blogically correct...if I ramble on a bit more to really set the stage for the future of this blog? Wait, am I supposed to ask questions? Well, maybe I'll never know because this blog won't be found and read, which is OK. It really serves a primary function of helping me put into words what God is doing in my heart and that is more than enough reason to keep on writing. I'm going to want to remember all of this someday. Continue Roger...]
Because I am a Christian, I MUST tell you all why I'm a Christian and invite you to consider the claims of Jesus Christ for yourself. Why must I do this? He created me, died for me, and has commissioned me to tell the world about Him. In fact, every true Christian can (and should) say the same thing. Christians don't proclaim Jesus Christ because we think we're more intelligent, articulate, or better people. Quite the opposite. For me to proclaim to you that Jesus Christ is my Savior and Lord, I am admitting to you that I am a sinner (1 Corinthians 2:1-5), imperfect, and in need of The Holy God to forgive me of my sin. No person ever became a Christian through intelligence, personal goodness, or simply by going to synagogue or church (a car doesn't become a car by sitting in a garage). For those of you who aren't familiar with Jesus Christ and "Christianity" (the life of one redeemed by and committed to Jesus), may this serve as an "on ramp", introducing you to the most amazing, abundant, and incredible journey you could ever imagine.
In my next blog installment I'll rewind the videotape back to July 24, 1986. A very special day, indeed. Until then, friends, ponder the words of James 4:14...
Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"-- yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.
I'll meet you here again, and soon...provided that my mist hasn't vanished.
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