Do you ever wonder whether you will get to the end of your “list?” You know the one – the one you have to keep or you will forget all the details of your life. The one that includes things like, get the oil changed, sign the permission slip, bring cookies to church, pay the bills, check whether the insurance is covering the medical bills correctly, check in on the investments, pick up the dry cleaning. My list has gotten so long that I don’t even like to look at it. And yet, if I don’t, too many things fall through the cracks. So, I keep adding to it. And once in a while I reorganize it. And at the beginning of each day I make decisions about what parts of that list I will invest in that day. But most of the time, I am just trying to get as much of the list done as possible in the time I allot to it so I can move on to the things that really matter in life. It doesn’t even seem realistic to think that I will ever get to the bottom of the almighty list. That I will ever complete everything on it.
Then there is the meaningful part of my life, the part I feel “Called” to, the part that makes me feel most alive, most connected to my deepest Source of meaning: my work, my daughter, singing at church, friendships, communing with nature, creating art. These are what I would rather be doing when I am getting tied up in knots over the details. These are what make life worth living. These put a smile on my face and love in my heart, as they say!
And the smile and love are definitely missing when cleaning the toilets, having teacher conferences, remembering to send the check to school for some event – you know the sorts of things. And because of losing touch with the Source of my being, I don’t always feel optimal, I don’t always behave well, and I don’t always treat people as people, or treat them well. I get irritated more easily. I get worried that I won’t finish the parts of the list I need to in the time I am willing to a lot to them. How about you? Sound familiar?
And so I wondered, shouldn’t God – or your higher power, or your values, or your deepest source of meaning -- be in the details too? Shouldn’t we be intentional about choosing the details, perhaps choosing only those that matter? After all, the people we encounter when trying to get our lists done are still people with feelings and lives and a sense of their own meaning. They don’t deserve to be treated as mere machines or objects capable only of contributing to our lists. Martin Buber spoke of an “I-Thou” relationship, one that values every human being we encounter, one that connects with others at a spiritual or meaning level regardless of the task at hand. And isn’t this what raises us above the animals? Isn’t this the very thing that makes us human?
So, what would happen if we treated everyone we encountered while completing our lists in this way? What would happen if we chose to bring God, as you understand the Source of your deepest meaning, into the details of our lists. What if we connected with that Source as we created the lists? What if we didn’t leave that Source behind no matter what we were doing?
I am imagining the results would be a better life! Less stress! More meaningful connections with those we care about! Less investment in things that don’t really matter! More caring and less wasted effort! More meaningful effort! And how can that not make our families and workplaces and schools and communities into better places, happier places, places that give back as much love as we put into them. Are you with me on this?
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