In lieu of Morning Pages

Today I didn’t have time to write my morning pages. There were animals to feed and more pressing matters. So this will be the ramblings of a somewhat unsettled mind. Heads up. 

 

I’ve been thinking lately a bit about the meaning of life or rather what it means to be alive. So often we don’t really consider the first words Jesus asked two disciples who started following him, “What do you want?” [John 1:35-39].

 

He didn’t ask them what they needed at that moment or what other people thought about them or about their situation. He didn’t ask them what their families’ expectations were or what their teachers and mentors had encouraged them to pursue. He didn’t ask them to study law or medicine or engineering. He didn’t start with the answer which He already actually knew. He asked them what they wanted. 

 

When they called him Rabbi/teacher and asked where He was staying, He simply instructed them to come along and see. 

 

It’s a short section of the first chapter of John and could be glossed over as rather insignificant. I suspect, however, that it is critically important. I tend to believe that the Bible is like an intricate tapestry. No thread is unimportant, no detail there by chance. It matters where our minds and hearts are. It matters what we want in our walk with Christ. We can come and see and follow and develop what we want by discovering what God wants for us.

 

Being alive in the biological sense is something far less than actually living a sentient, meaningful existence. That’s why some of us choose to make Living Wills and give our loved ones instruction on what to do in the event of a “being alive” and prolonging inevitable death, vs. actually living situation. Living a life worth living matters.

 

I think often we are given purpose, and, in our hearts and minds, this purpose is what we want for ourselves when we are younger and less influenced by others in this world. It is easy to place too much importance on the desires of well-intentioned parents or mentors and not enough importance on the inner voice guided by God. The tug of war is knowing the difference between selfish wants and purpose-driven, living type wants. When we give ourselves over to the Lord’s plan, we can often rediscover this purpose type want and come into alignment. We get a chance to come and see what is intended and beautifully created for each of us.   

 

Ramble over for today. Go seek and live your life that’s worth living.