Life Lessons

Not long ago I read The Fault in Our Stars, and like Gus, I grew up wanting to leave my mark on the world. To be somebody. In some ways, I've succeeded enough to discover fame is a fickle companion and fortune a deceptive lover. We ignore Polonius's advice to Hamlet at our own peril, “to thine own self be true for thou can'st not then be false to any man” When greed and power gained by any means becomes our god we not only destroy ourselves, we endanger the every existence of the world. True success demands that we do no harm to ourselves, others, our environment.

Our country is drowning in unhappiness. Unwilling to feel our pain we hide behind our various addictions. Street drugs, shopping, prescriptions, alcohol, gambling, depression, junk food, work, smart phones, techno toys...anything to deaden the pain. It's been said there are really only two kinds of pain, the pain that comes from refusing to deal with something and make the needed changes or the pain that comes with the agony of confrontation and change. The difference is the first never goes away but the second eventually transforms itself into something new, joyous and freeing.

Change and challenge are an inevitable part of life. Like oldsters of all generations I asnticipate the future with trepidation and tiptoe toward the new thing with more than a little anxiety. Embracing some changes while avoiding others, I am reminded of some life lessons I have learned.

--I have learned not to take life forgranted. Things can change in the blink of an eye.

--I have learned that failure need not define me. I can use my failures as steppingstones.

--I have learned to trust the Ten Commandments and the teachings of Jesus not because I need an evacuation plan to heaven but because their wisdom contains what I need to live in relative peace and contentment.

--I have learned there is little point in trying to make a good impression on others.

--I have learned that trying to do as little harm as possible is a full time job. That applies too myself, those I love, the community around me, and this precious planet we call Earth.

--I have learned I am not the center of the universe, that it's not the world's responsibility to cater to my wishes.

-- I have learned to intentionally pray “thy kingdom come, thy will be done” because it's precisely when I think I know what's best that things go terribly wrong.

– I have learned to be grateful for what I have instead of bemoaning what I don't have.

-- I have learned that less is more and that simplicity is liberating.

– I have learned that love is stronger than hate and that forgiveness is always liberating.

Joyce Shutt is pastor emeritus of the Fairfield Mennonite Church