Yesterday I had one of those life-shocking moments where I
saw a post from a friend on FB about another friend who had just died the night
before. I was in tears trying to grasp what had happened to someone that truly
stood for the great things in life. As I considered what most people pursue in
life usually is fame, fortune and having fun. Don’t get me wrong there is
nothing wrong with fame, fortune or fun if it makes a difference in the world.
I spent most of the day in a haze not understanding the why question of my
friend’s untimely premature death.
I spent the morning with a group of friends handing out food
and clothing to some men, women and teens that live on the street. They have a
mixed story as to why they are living on the street and their dreams to have
some fortune, forget fame and maybe to have fun in their very difficult life. I
had a good friend share with my group of 40 helpers, from a couple of churches
along with my college interns, what it was like to be hopeless and on the
street. The impact of Shelley sharing her story was that all of a sudden fame,
fortune and fun were left behind for understanding the importance of having a
family and a living faith.
It struck me as I connected with another friend who shared
that our mutual friend had just died from a very aggressive form of pancreatic
cancer. The dialogue that took place
after the initial update was a real focus on what makes life matters the most comes
down to genuine relationships. What clearly jumped out at you as you read my
friend’s FB page was an ongoing series of posts that talked about what a
special friend, humble servant and incredible pastor, husband, dad, brother and
grandpa he had been. Again, I was crying not over fame, fortune or having fun
but someone that exhibited the true essence of life that showed the impact the
right focus in life can have on a family and a community!
That evening we joined our son and his wife for a College
football game between ASU and our college Cal-Poly San Luis Obispo. There was big hype for the season opener for
the local team the Sundevils! The news and media showed how much fun the locals
had with tailgating from as early as 5am in the morning. The game was a must
win as ASU had lost their first game the week before. This became bigger than
life because football is about fame and fortune with fun being thrown in for
the fans when their team wins.
What was rather amusing for a short time was that the
underdogs, my college team, had actually taken control of the game and tied the
score. The game was in stall mode for about 10 minutes before the Sundevils
took over and rightfully won the game. We left before the Devils stampeded our
Mustangs and as we walked back to the parking garage what struck me was how my
friend’s life truly deserved the fireworks that had gone off every time the
home team scored.
How much of your life and mine is spent attempting to gain
fame and fortune or at least dream about it? I know that ultimately most don’t
confuse fame, fortune or fun as being more important than family and faith.
Yet, what stood out to me was that it’s so easy to have our heart’s focus,
which few can see, on thinking that fame and fortune do matter more at times
than our family and our faith. I was
privileged to read an email that my friend’s son had written about his father
after he had passed and gone home to glory. What made this special was that you
could see a son who was so proud of his dad who had redefined fame and fortune
to equate with being a humble servant leader.
What’s your life focus?
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