Be happy, young man, while you are young,
and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth.
Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see,
but know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment.*
I can just picture this scene, a gray haired old gentleman at table in a sidewalk cafe, acknowledging the carefree youth at the next table, smoking his cigarette, drinking whatever, and espousing his happy life of “devil may care.” I can picture it because it’s clear memory.
The old man, a retired architect of old world sensibilities was one I respected, and there was enough respect in return that he deigned to address some of my foibles. I tossed them off, of course.
He didn’t, but he could have espoused the whole passage quoted above: “Go ahead, do whatever you want . . . but know there are consequences.”
“But.” There’s that word, always messing up the freedom, negating the compliment, bringing things back to reality.
And so it is here in the ecclesiastical quote, a permission to live epicurean . . . with a careless zest like there’s no tomorrow.
But, it reminds, there is a tomorrow.
Thanks to a number of obstacles and pains, not to mention an invisible “guiding hand,” I got off that track and onto another destined to a better place.
It was not so, apparently, with my friend Steve.
I met Steve in 7th grade and he was my first bad influence. He was so clever, so impishly devious, I couldn’t help liking him. He needed better influences and I thought for awhile I could provide that. But (there’s that word again), it went the other way.
We spent years together as friends before drifting apart, both of us going onto worse.
But as I said, I changed tracks. Apparently he never did.
It was years later, like maybe 40, then serving as president of a large mission organization, I was asked to speak at a church some distance away. To the surprise of both of us, I ran into the sister of my old friend Steve. She was church secretary. I asked about her brother.
“We see him from time to time,” she said. “He lives in the next town, under a tree.”
“Under a tree?”
“Yes, he comes by sometimes, sometimes with one woman or another, usually needing money. He can be pleasant enough when he’s not strung out on something, but that’s not often.”
I never saw Steve, my visit was brief, but I’ve often reflected on his life, the road he was on and never got off of, and the destination it took him to.
He had fun when he was young, but he never saw, or listened to, the big but in the equation.
Every road leads somewhere. In the end, everything matters.
__________________
*Ecclesiastes 11:9-10
Our Lives Together
Its About Life
10:41 am
When I was younger I wrestled with the tension between “everything matters” and “don’t sweat the small stuff”. Hindsight helps….but to be honest, I still struggle now and then.
11:09 am
Well put, Hyatt. Jars of Clay sings, “We are the sum of all the things we know.” What we’ve known and done are like ingredients of a recipe, stirred into a mixing bowl, and continually baking. Any given event, or choice we’ve made, with all the resulting consequences, simply cannot be removed. Randy Alcorn, one of my favorite authors, explains how our surrender to the Biblical God spins this recipe. In Romans 8:28, it says that “He causes everything together to work for good…” When our lives are submitted to Him, he intentionally takes all the pieces of our past, both the good and the bad, and bakes them together, like a cake in the oven, for a wonderful outcome. On our own, not a pretty picture. In Christ, our shallow attempt at life is dismantled, then restored into one of wonder, worship, and goodness. The mystery of mysteries.
10:57 pm
Norm, you are just so amazing, well God in you that is!! He has blessed you with such wisdom and a keen sense and talent of putting all those thoughts into wonderful print! thank you for continuing to comment all the wisdom of Hyatt’s blessed words for The Lord above! Love your combination!! I always end my readings after Hyatt’s blog and then your commentary with ——perfect! That was so perfect and I feel such peace……….. thank you Lisa
12:11 pm
Like Becky, I struggle with my ‘shoulds’ and ‘wants’ and, after 50 years still wonder what drives my perceptions of these polar opposites. I long for a sense of steady progress… it’s elusive.
7:50 pm
Steve is still alive, that means his story isn’t finished yet. “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”
8:01 pm
True enough . . . else I wouldn’t be here. Not sure Steve still is, however, as this was years ago, and I’ve again lost track.
11:04 pm
I am so thankful that I have never felt like I faced two roads. One with The Lord and the other not with The Lord, like Steve. My struggles have been my own, trying to stay closely on track with The Lord and all He wanted me to do in my life for His glory! He has truly worked everything together for His good for this child, just like he promises to all who believe in Him! I am so thankful that my cake seems to be coming out pretty well, referencing Norm’s analogy. Not perfect but really pretty good from my perspective. I am sure it is perfect in God’s perspective and that is really all I need. For that I am grateful and at peace with all of it even if I don’t understand it all. amen!
12:22 pm
Today I am closing the family business of 58 years the road to our livelihood . Scarred sad and happy all at the same time. Waiting to see what God has for us next.
1:29 pm
Larry, Sorry and glad for you, both. Not sure what it has to do with “Wild Oats.” More likely relevant to next post: “The Law of Diminishing Returns.”
8:46 pm
Thank you for the stimulating thoughts in this and your other writings, Hyatt.
In the Town Square of Stans, a small town in Central Switzerland, is a life size metal sculpture of a nude young girl brushing her hair and admiring her beauty in a hand held mirror. Standing behind her and whispering in her ear is a skeleton. The message to me was that in the exuberance and high spirits of youth remember that there will be a time when we die and then there will be an accounting of how we have lived our life.