One Life
“One life is all we have. We live it as we believe in living it and then it’s gone.”
St. Joan of Arc
In the depths of our hearts, we want to live a life of purpose, to give it to something important. Whether we realize it or not, we all give our lives for something.
“Every man gives his life for what he believes. Every woman gives her life for what she believes. Sometimes they believe in little or nothing and yet they give their lives to that little or nothing. One life is all we have. We live it as we believe in living it and then it’s gone. But to surrender what you are and to live without belief is more terrible than dying. Even more terrible than dying young.” -St. Joan of Arc, who was burned at the stake for what she believed at age 19.
Feeling God’s Pleasure
“Why spend your money for what is not bread, or your wages for what does not satisfy?”
Isaiah 55:2
What am I looking at, listening to, spending my time and money on? What am I giving my life to? Is it good, true, and beautiful? In a memorable scene from the Oscar-winning movie Chariots of Fire, missionary and Olympic runner Eric Liddel tells his sister, “God made me for a purpose, for China. But He also made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure.”
What is it that, when you spend time and effort doing it, you feel a sense of God’s pleasure? Alternately what is it that, when you spend time doing it, you feel a sense of God’s disappointment? What is the ratio of time you spend on each? “Why spend your money for what is not bread, or your wages for what does not satisfy?”
Where Are You Going?
“I gained true understanding of life from my Rose Bowl mistake.”
Roy Riegels
University of California defender Roy Riegels picked up a fumble in the first half of the 1929 Rose Bowl and, in pivoting away from a would-be tackler, lost his sense of direction. He sprinted 69 yards in the wrong direction before a teammate finally caught him at the one-yard line. A blocked punt on the following play resulted in a safety – two points for the opposing team. Roy was distraught, humiliated, and felt he had brought dishonor to his school and teammates. His coach talked him into facing his fears and playing in the second half, during which Roy himself blocked a punt. Nevertheless, Roy’s team lost by a single point, and he came to be known to history as “Wrong Way Roy Riegels.” He was usually good-natured when the mistake was brought up, but it focused his life rather than defined it. When others made similar mistakes in the future, he used his unique experience to uplift and encourage them.
In Genesis chapter 16, Hagar is fleeing from her mistress Sarai, and away from the land of promise. The Lord comes to her in the wilderness and asks “Where have you come from and where are you going?” (vs. 7) Hagar, he effectively tells her, you are going the wrong way. God himself encourages Hagar, and points her in the right direction.
Made For a Purpose
“I urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call to which you have been called.”
Ephesians 4:1
It is valuable to reflect us the same questions God asked Hagar: “Where have you come from and where are you going?” God desires that we use our interests, passions, gifts, and life-experiences for the good.
“Man is created by God and for God; and God never ceases to draw man to himself. Only in God will he find the truth and happiness he never stops searching for:” -Catechism of the Catholic Church #27
Every car comes with an owner’s manual. In it the manufacturer gives operating instructions including maintenance schedules, recommended tire size and pressure, oil capacity and viscosity, fuel octane, and much more. Once you purchase the car, you are free to abide by or ignore the manufacturer’s recommendations. But if you decide to fill the gas tank with chicken soup, the car will not work as designed. In the same way, if we ignore our Manufacturer’s recommendations, we will never be what we were made to be.
David and Goliath
“I am not afraid, for God is with me. I was born to do this”
St. Joan of Arc
The shepherd boy David faced the giant Goliath in single combat in the Valley of Elah ca. 1020 B.C. (1 Samuel 17). “David and Goliath” has since become a metaphor for improbable victory. (One of my favorite movies is the aptly-named Facing the Giants, in which a smaller and slower high school football team goes up against an overwhelming favorite.) Malcolm Gladwell gives us pause to rethink our assumptions in his 2013 book David and Goliath. Was David the underdog as we have always been told, or had God been preparing him for just that moment? Gladwell argues persuasively that when David, an experienced slinger, approached the slow and lumbering giant Goliath the battle was already a foregone conclusion. God had been preparing the shepherd David all his life for that very moment!
Joan of Arc was a young girl who was strengthened and then called by God to save France. If she ever faltered in her mission, it is not recorded. She lived out her purpose as a diplomat and military leader to her dying day, and was quoted as saying, “I was born to do this.” David and Joan were made for a purpose, and Joan literally gave her life for that purpose.
One Thing
“Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire!”
-St. Catherine of Siena
What is God preparing YOU for? He doesn’t promise it will be easy, but that it will be fulfilling. God isn’t calling you for something he hasn’t been preparing you for. He is asking you to use your interests, passions, talents, and life experiences for the good. What are you spending your time and money on? Are you living in a manner worthy of that call or are you going the wrong way? Do you more often feel God’s pleasure or His disappointment? Are you following your Manufacturer’s recommendations?
In a particularly profound moment in the movie City Slickers, the cowboy Curly shares the secret of life. “One thing,” he tells Mitch. “Just one thing. You stick to that.” “That’s great,” Mitch replies. “But what’s that one thing?” Curly wisely answers, “That’s what you’ve got to figure out.”
In the depths of our hearts, we want to live a life of purpose, to give it to something important. “One life is all we have. We live it as we believe in living it and then it’s gone. But to surrender what you are and to live without belief is more terrible than dying. Even more terrible than dying young.”
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