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The Last Third

About 15 years ago I went to hear Billy Graham speak at the crusade he was holding in Columbus, Ohio. The very first thing he said in the pulpit was, “The thing that strikes me most about life is the brevity of it.”

His comment did not mean that much to me at that moment, it did not really register. But during that same period of my life I went to visit my Grandma Bertha one day, and she made this statement: “Keith, it seems like yesterday that I was a teenager.”

So I began to think more about “The Brevity of Life,” about what that might mean.

When you are in your early thirties, your awareness of the brevity of life is not nearly as acute as it is when you are older. I am now in my late forties, and the speed with which my life is passing seems to be accelerating rapidly.

The current average life expectancy for an American male is around 75 years, so statistically I am entering the last third of my life.

The last third.

Two-thirds of my life is behind me, only one third remains. Granted, I try to live healthfully and perhaps I will “beat the odds” and live longer than 75 years. But then again, God might have other plans for me and I will live only a few more moments.

In any case, I think more and more about the brevity of life and it is definitely affecting the way I think and the way I live. For example, my priorities have definitely changed. Some things that seemed important to me when I was younger no longer even concern me.

Another example of the change in me is that I am much more inclined to speak my mind when I strongly feel that something should be said. If I don’t say something now, when will it be said?

I’m less inclined to let injustices go unchallenged.

Fixing the fence seems much less important than spending time with my wife … although I don’t intend to let our property go to pot.

I’m more inclined to hire someone else to do the job than do it myself … especially when it involves stuff like digging ditches.

You’d think that I would be more inclined to hoard as I approach retirement, but giving to others seems more attractive now. You can’t take it with you when you die, eh?

Although I still compete, I am far less competitive than I used to be – how important, really, in the grand scheme of things is my Saturday morning squash match?

I want to be more accepting and less judgmental of those who have a different perspective, a different background, a different orientation, a different creed, a different experience.

I want more and more that my life would count for something … that I live authentically and without façade … that I fulfill my God given purpose in life.

I’m in the last third of my life … or, could it be that all I really have is right now?

Newz We Can Yooz

This just in …

The Dow is at least two times higher today than it was just 15 years ago.

The employment rate in America for January, 2009, was 92.4% — thus, there are nearly 153 million employed people in this country.

Median home values adjusted for inflation have nearly quadrupled over the 60-year period since the first housing census in 1940. Median home value increased in each decade of this 60-year period, rising fastest (43 percent) in the 1970s and slowest (8.2 percent) in the 1980s.

President Obama is bright, charismatic, and a consensus builder.

Gasoline is only $1.70 per gallon these days. Nonetheless, our migration to alternative energy sources will increase rapidly over the next several years, which will not only will be better for the planet … but it will make us less beholden to oil countries who don’t like us and who don’t share the same values.

Many days are sunny, but precipitation is a wonderful thing too because it provides water to drink and enables plants to grow.

We live in a democratic country, and if you disagree with how the country or your community is being governed, you have a myriad of options as a free citizen for fostering positive change. Also, each vote counts.

If you want to go to school and learn something new, you can do that at any age.

Even in the most densely populated cities, there are parks and open space nearby.

Our pets love us no matter what.

Hard Work and Goals

If you want to succeed, you have to roll up your sleeves.

If you want to see your dreams become reality, you have to put your hand to the plow.

God worked 6 days to create the world, and He did not rest until the 7th day. For in Genesis 2:1-3 it is written:

“Thus the heavens and the hearth were completed, and all their hosts. And by the seventh day God completed His work which He had done; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.”

There really are no shortcuts to success. And you must believe that our awesome God can do awesome things through you … if you are willing to put forth the effort.

In addition to hard work, you must have a clear vision of where you want to go. Sit down and write down your goals. Describe them in detail, and then follow a plan for realizing them.

Here are 4 words to remember during this process of defining your vision:
(1) Goal, (2) Action, (3) Review, and (4) Adjust.

Goal – First define your goal in detail, write down what it looks like, what it feels like, what it smells like, etc. Be very specific about what you want to accomplish. Again, write it down – there is something very powerful about documenting your vision.

Action – Then take action and move toward your goal, even if you must start taking small steps. For example, if one of your goals is to get a college degree, it might seem like a daunting task if you have not yet started college. Thus, a small step which would start moving you toward your goal would be to simply start calling local colleges to inquire about admission, cost of courses, etc. Just start calling. Take action, take a step toward your goal no matter how small that step might seem.

Review – After you have started moving toward your goal, step back and determine if you are still on target. Are the actions you have been taking still moving you in the direction of your goal? Get very clear about the status of your progress toward your goal.

Adjust – If you decide that you have veered off course, simply make the necessary adjustments to get back on course. You know what your goal is, you have stated it very specifically on paper, and so if you notice that you are beginning to miss your target then you will be able to adjust and get back on target.

And the cycle keeps repeating itself. Get clear on your goal, take more action toward your goal, step back now and then to review your progress, and adjust if necessary to stay on target. Then keep dreaming … take more action, and keep moving forward … and keep reviewing … and keep adjusting … and take more action …

But again, reaching goals means putting forth the effort, it means striving to bring your dreams into reality … through God’s strength and blessing.

Say to yourself, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!”

Also say, “If God is for me, who can be against me?”

By God’s strength and grace, you can do it!

Weight Watchers

My lovely wife has been a member of Weight Watchers (WW) for many years. She joined to get help losing 30 lbs. that she had gained in the years immediately after college. (In case you are wondering, my wife reviewed and approved this entire post before it was published).

WW was founded over 40 years ago by a woman who began inviting friends into her home once a week to discuss how best to lose weight. Today, it is the “world’s leading provider of weight management services,” and is dedicated to helping people “lose weight safely and effectively and keep it off.” According to their web site http://www.weightwatchers.com/, the focus is not on teaching people how to diet, but on inspiring and helping people adopt a healthier way to live. I love that philosophy … it is good for each one of us, and good for all of us.

Body. Mind. Spirit. Community.

I had the good fortune of being involved in 4-H when I was kid, and now many years later I can still recite the 4-H pledge:

I pledge …
My head to clearer thinking,
My heart to greater loyalty,
My hands to larger service, and
My health to better living,
For my club, my community, my country, and my world.

My wife takes the bus to the WW program office, and so I am the lucky one who gets to pick her up after the weigh-in. When she gets in my truck, she is generally either perturbed to be .43 pound over her goal weight, or delighted to be .67 pound under her goal weight.

If she is a fraction of a pound over her goal weight and perturbed, I try to comfort her by saying something like, “Well you know, Sweetie, that I will always love you just the way you are.” I’m sure that she appreciates my devotion, but she still spends the first few miles travelling down the road processing her memory of every meal she ate over the past month … trying to figure out where that .43 pound may have come from.

As for myself, I can get down to 204 lbs. if I cut my hair, trim my toenails, blow my nose, clean out my ear wax, not drink or eat anything for several hours, empty my bladder, have a bowel movement, and get completely naked before getting on the scale.

At 204 lbs., I am exactly 40 lbs. heavier than I was when I got married 10 years ago. So, if I continue to add 4 lbs. every year, I should hit 300 lbs. by the year 2033 – just in time to be looking in vain for the monthly Social Security check that I would normally be receiving at age 73.

Now I was either emaciated when I got married at 164 lbs., or I have packed on a few pounds over the years. The increased weight is not all muscle mass, I can assure you. And if I packed them on, by golly I can pack some of them off. (I refuse to believe that the extra weight has made me more jolly and huggable).

One thing I do to create a healthier lifestyle is to build exercise into my daily routine. I am so glad that my cubicle is on the 5th floor of the office building, I made up my mind when we moved into this building that I would take the stairs at all times … the only exceptions are when I am in a hurry, or when I am engaged in a business discussion with someone who is taking the elevator.

On the rare occasion when I am in a hurry and get in the elevator at the 1st floor, I must admit to being a wee bit irritated when some perfectly healthy and fit twenty-something gets in on the 2nd floor and gets off at the 3rd floor. I’m tempted to say, “Get that freakin’ fone implant out of your ear, Buddy, and get yo’ ass in the stairwell,” but I never say that because I try to be a compassionate soul.

I am also blessed by the fact that my wife is a registered Dietician, and we eat quite well around here. We eat whole-grain low-sugar cereals, low-fat or no-fat yogurt and cottage cheese, free-range organic eggs and meats (turkey, chicken, and fish), lots of fruits and vegetables, and when we bake we use whole-grain flours (not that processed white crap) and substitute applesauce or something similar for the some of the oil called for in the recipe. And scones, I ain’t giving up my scones … I eat 1 or 2 just about every week (but you didn’t hear that).

I was just kidding earlier when I talked about gaining weight every year leading up to retirement. I don’t envision myself being overweight, poor, and depressed as I enter into retirement … on the contrary, I envision myself being fit, richly blessed, and happy. I hope that you will also create within your mind a positive image of yourself and of what you want to be, and may that image in your mind empower you to manifest it in reality.
Laughter is also good for the whole being, and my prayer is that you are inspired by my blog today … and also enjoyed a few chuckles along the way (not the candy).

What Religion are You?

I suppose that life is much simpler if you are born one religion, live one religion, and die one religion.

There have been millions of Catholics who were born Catholic, lived Catholic, and died Catholic … millions of Jews who were born Jewish, lived Jewish, and died Jewish … millions of Pentecostals who were born Pentecostal, lived Pentecostal, and died Pentecostal … millions of, well you get the picture.

The same applies to your religion, however instead of millions it might be thousands, or hundreds, or even fewer.

Of course, it is something of a misnomer to say that someone is born a religion, for infants don’t really practice a religion. But the socialization into religion for many starts at such a young age, you may as well say you were born a religion.

I did a quick Google search to see if I could find any research that indicates the likelihood of staying in a particular religion, but I could not find any data. For example, what percentage of people born into a Unitarian Universalist home will live and die UU?

The likelihood that you will stay in a particular religion varies from country to country, and from religion to religion. Some religions are so laissez-faire that they don’t know (or don’t care) whether you float in and out, but other religions will deprive you of your existence before they let you leave.

I’d also like to know, by religion, the degree of total adherence to the complete creed. For example, what percentage of Methodist doctrine does the average Methodist believe? Is the average Methodist … 90% Methodist, 5% Baptist, 3% Catholic, and 2% Other? And, what all goes into that Other category?

(As you can see, I am using the term religion to refer to each distinct religious group).

I suspect that most Americans are a mixture of various creeds, even if unwilling to admit it. And again, how mixed you are depends on what religion you were socialized into.

So admit it, my Buddhist friend, you got a little Rastafarian in you … don’t you?

Now if you are a mix, and admit it, don’t believe that your mix is the ONE TRUE religion … and don’t try to proselytize the world into your mix. It is good to have firmly held beliefs, and even to share them with others … but when you seek to superimpose your entire belief system on another, you do not love that other like God does.

So then, what religion is God?

SARCASM ALERT – HERE IT COMES! Surely God is my religion, the one true religion, and everyone in my religion will be in Heaven, and everyone else will go straight to Hell. THERE IT GOES – THAT WAS SARCASM!

We all know that is absurd, right? Go ahead and shout it out loud, it is absurd to believe that:

God is your religion
Your religion is the one true religion
Everyone in your religion will be in Heaven
Everyone else will go straight to Hell

Go ahead and feel the love. Shout it out loud. Be free.

Your religion is not THE religion. My religion is not THE religion. Your mix is not THE mix. My mix is not THE mix.

Come on, let it out. It’s in there, just waiting to spring forth. Don’t be afraid, for if you let it out, it will never really leave you … for if you let it out, it will be out there AND in you.

Embrace, truly embrace, your fellow human being. Accept them as they are, listen to them, and learn from them. There is strength in diversity. Thank God for each person in your life, and endeavor to love them as God loves them.

Go into your innermost being, into your heart of hearts … and feel the love that is God in you.