We used to run around all over the place, busy, scheduled, appointments up the ying yang.

Go here, go there.  Things to do.  People to see. 

Articles about how to do our make-up and conduct meetings, on airplanes.  Pack for a week in one suitcase.  See the Taj Mahal in an hour.  Travel the entire world in ten days.

Let’s admit it: A lot of us were exhausted and we didn’t even know it.  We just kept winding ourselves up, and going, going, going.

We were exhausting ourselves and our resources: emotional, mental, physical, natural.

Some us had no spiritual exhaustion because spirituality was for sissies.  Or we had our silos, the church, mosque, synagogue, temple that was our club, where we went to be seen.

And some of us thought God was only in the building on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  Or we tried to steer the Universe by ourselves.

We were running after elusive fountains of youth and measures of success which strained all our reserves.  Some of us strained others, too, sucking life from them like vampires, so we could have more.  Some of us were human bulldozers, plowing our way through fertile fields; we didn’t notice what we ran over.  Until it was too late.

We were so wound up, we didn’t know how to unwind.

A couple of weeks ago, while livestreaming from the pulpit in an empty sanctuary, I shared a message I heard in Washington, D.C., during the Yuppie 1990s: “The one who dies with the most toys wins.”  And how I remember whispering to myself: “OK, but they still die.”

And some people might say: “You can’t say that Rev. Jenn.  That’s not motivating.  That isn’t inspiring.”

Really?

When current events remind us how precious life is?  That disease is the great equalizer?

Check out sacred scripture.  Read any of the Gospels.  Jesus says repeatedly: “I’m only with you for a while.  Listen to me now.  Here’s how to live.”

Check out God’s conversations with Moses.  How many times God says: “I am the Lord your God.  And you are Moses.  This is your job.  And this is how much time you have.”

So, if someone is upset with me for mentioning death, I invite them to consider how well they’re living.  What they’re doing with their precious time, this awesome gift of life they have.

Because, in my experience, with those I’ve been honored to share this journey, no one ever said, “I wish I’d spent more time at the office.  I wish I’d bought more stuff.”  But all of them said, each in their own words, “I hope I was the best person I could be.”

We are called to be our best selves.  The stuff we have is garnish.

Embrace your best self, right here, right now, and live it out loud.

That’s our call, and God knows, our world truly needs it.

© 2020 – Rev. Jennifer L. Sacks – All rights reserved.