Give Me Meaning!
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! Most of us have stood, toe to toe, eyes poping, neck veins bulging, saliva flying, screaming at life. Most of us have grabbed life by the throat, slammed it up against the wall, sunk our thumbs into its jugular, and shrieked, "Give me meaning! give me purpose! Give me peace! Give me happiness! Give me something worth living for! I demand it! I cannot go on without something worth living for!"
And for many of us, life stares back like a zombie, with unblinking eyes, emotionless, silent, unruffled, and untouched by our outburst. Nose to nose with us, it breathes its foul, uncaring breath into our nostrils as its unfocused eyes look past us, unconcerned and even unaware of our presence. It was as though it never heard us.
With rage, fueled by alarm, we wail, "But you promised! You promised me meaning, purpose, and love. You led me to believe that I could succeed, that I could matter, and that someone would care! You lied...you lied...you lied!
Mixed with panic and despair, we slump to the floor, eyes unfocused, head drooped to our chest, wondering where we go from here. We cannot give up. Yet we cannot go on. Meanwhile, life turns back and shuffles away from us, leaving us alone. We think our heart will break, we think our mind will split, we think our soul will shrivel like week-old roses.
As we lie in a heap on the floor of life, thinking we are looking at the end, we actually may be looking at the beginning. What a wonderful and marvelous place this is. What a privilege and opportunity it is to utterly come to the end of one's hope - not only to run out of answers, but to run out of questions. To be beyond fighting, to come to that suspended animation where we are so confused and so weak that we can neither fight nor run.
When you face this critical juncture, when despair seems most certain and hope seems least likely, you are on the verge of triumph. You must seize the day! You must grasp the moment! For you see, when you come to the end of yourself, you find the beginning of God. And there, and nowhere else, you find the answers you seek. You find fulfillment for the longings of your soul.
Like rats in a maze, we shuffle panic-stricken down every blind alley, looking for our way out, choosing every tunnel except the one that leads to God. That is the only tunnel that isn't a dead-end. But often, we will not take that tunnel until be become completely convinced that it is the only one left. Then and then only can our deepest longings be fulfilled.
By Max E. Anders
From: 30 Days to Understanding the Christian Life, pg.6-7
And for many of us, life stares back like a zombie, with unblinking eyes, emotionless, silent, unruffled, and untouched by our outburst. Nose to nose with us, it breathes its foul, uncaring breath into our nostrils as its unfocused eyes look past us, unconcerned and even unaware of our presence. It was as though it never heard us.
With rage, fueled by alarm, we wail, "But you promised! You promised me meaning, purpose, and love. You led me to believe that I could succeed, that I could matter, and that someone would care! You lied...you lied...you lied!
Mixed with panic and despair, we slump to the floor, eyes unfocused, head drooped to our chest, wondering where we go from here. We cannot give up. Yet we cannot go on. Meanwhile, life turns back and shuffles away from us, leaving us alone. We think our heart will break, we think our mind will split, we think our soul will shrivel like week-old roses.
As we lie in a heap on the floor of life, thinking we are looking at the end, we actually may be looking at the beginning. What a wonderful and marvelous place this is. What a privilege and opportunity it is to utterly come to the end of one's hope - not only to run out of answers, but to run out of questions. To be beyond fighting, to come to that suspended animation where we are so confused and so weak that we can neither fight nor run.
When you face this critical juncture, when despair seems most certain and hope seems least likely, you are on the verge of triumph. You must seize the day! You must grasp the moment! For you see, when you come to the end of yourself, you find the beginning of God. And there, and nowhere else, you find the answers you seek. You find fulfillment for the longings of your soul.
Like rats in a maze, we shuffle panic-stricken down every blind alley, looking for our way out, choosing every tunnel except the one that leads to God. That is the only tunnel that isn't a dead-end. But often, we will not take that tunnel until be become completely convinced that it is the only one left. Then and then only can our deepest longings be fulfilled.
By Max E. Anders
From: 30 Days to Understanding the Christian Life, pg.6-7
posted by Anonymous at 9:43 AM
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