What does in mean to live a good life? If you asks a million people this question, you just might get a million different answers. However, if you have every attended a funeral of someone who had very few attendees and the attendees who were present seemed unattached, you might find yourself asking if the person "lived a good life?"
I found myself in this position not long ago and this blog reviews my thoughts concerning my view of a "good life." Feel free to comment.
Some would define a "good life" as one who had achieved many things (or measure it with such things like these: wealth, high awards in academia, good jobs, lots of friends, children who are healthy and productive, etc. While none of these things are bad in and of themselves, are life's achievements really what make life "good?"
Yes, Money, friends, good jobs, nice houses, and healthy loved ones make life easier, but I couldn't help but think how useless tangible things like my degree,job, awards, etc, would be without "my life" to support them and carry them out. After all my degree would mean nothing to my Husband or family (they couldn't use them).
On the other hand, other intangible things like love, joy, kindness, integrity,discipline, self confidence etc. cannot be taken from my Husband or others when I am gone, these things linger on in the memories of one's life and bring back to remembrance acts of kindness, life lessons taught, times of discipline (thus impacting generations and generations to come).
The thing that strikes me about this, is that if you ask people to think about what really matters in life (most will acknowledge the intangible things) but still, we work and labor daily and diligently for the tangible fleeting things of life, sometimes to the demise of the intangible investments we could be making. Occasionally we even demand achievement before we will love or show kindness to others or ourselves.
In the words of a song I wrote once:
Our life is but a vapor we're only here for a little while
So are you storing up treasures in heaven
Or things on earth that just parish, they parish away yall
Cause this life is a Temporary thing
One day we'll leave this body and step into eternity
Where will you be?
James 4:14 What is your life, but a vapor that appears for a little while then vanishes.
Matthew 6:20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
Maybe we could all spend a little more time today focusing on eternal things that really matter in the life of others and worrying and working less on the things that are fleeting and self consuming.
If you are grieving here's a note From "My Utmost for His Highest"-
Suffering either gives me my self or it destroys my self. You cannot receive your self in success, you lose your head; you cannot receive your self in monotony, you grouse. The way to find yourself is in the fires of sorrow. Why it should be so is another matter, but that it is so is true in the Scriptures and in human experience. You always know the man who has been through the fires of sorrow and received himself, you are certain you can go to him in trouble and find that he has ample leisure for you.
Live well,
Jessica D. Cleveland
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