e·ter·ni·ty
[ih-tur-ni-tee]
I read a statistic (somewhat dated) that 75% of Americans believe in life after death. That’s a pretty significant number of people and it makes me wonder how much time those individuals spend focusing on their own eternity. Most people that I know spend the majority amount of their time focused on this temporary existence on earth, including myself. We wake up and prepare for work, get dressed and decorated for the day. We spend the day solving problems of the day and perhaps planning for the weeks ahead and we go home, eat dinner, watch a little entertainment and off to sleep we go only to wake up and do that all over again. Don’t worry, this is not a bash on American culture or a beat up session about all that we do WRONG. But, doesn’t it make you stop and wonder about our ETERNITY – infinite time; duration without beginning or end. This life seems to be flying by so fast and the fact that we seem to be able to ignore that little nagging truth that we could leave this place at any moment is somewhat astounding. We also see death all around us and somehow we hear it, see it and even acknowledge it but with a degree of numbness depending on how well we knew the person that just passed. Should we think about death everyday and focus our time on it? Well, I believe yes and no. When I allow myself to step out of my demanding day, which I have created by the way, and really think about what eternity means and the level of control that I have over my eternal existence, my brain flips upside down. The when is out of our control and the how but what about the where? I don’t believe that it’s enough to be a “good person” and to spend my day at work trying to do my best in this little cocoon that I have curled up in. Am I grateful for the opportunities that God has given, absolutely. And now the battle in my mind begins! Here it goes…ready?
The one argument is that God is in all things and I believe that. Therefore, it doesn’t matter where we work, eat or sleep as long as we are serving him through kindness and compassion to everyone around us. Okay, I’ve bought that hook line and sinker because I am living that world today. Then, the conflict begins when I start thinking about Rwanda, Tanzania, America and the list goes on and on. There are starving nations, people in dire need of clothing, education, spiritual depravity and some basic needs and I think about a passage that I just read this morning… Mark 16:15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. I spend my day in an environment where that request is not allowed. Certainly I can do this outside of the workplace and I spend a small amount of time doing that but the reality is that I am focused mostly on the issues of my day that have nothing to do with serving God. There is a part of me that believes that just being a witness in the workplace and doing my best to be His best is all that He asks. There is another part of me that believes that we have chosen a life full of work time and self desires which have shrouded the Truth in God’s expectation of us.
I conclude here because I don’t have the answer to this and I know this is part of my journey. Someday this will be reconciled but at what cost and for how long? How much time do I have to think about it before eternity is here? That’s the ping-pong game that my mind plays everyday.
