A few months ago, I received a phone call to let me know that a friend, whom I hadn’t seen for a couple of years, had suddenly died. He was only 60 and in reasonably good health but suddenly died. It came as a great shock. It was so sudden, so unexpected, so complete and final!

Such events cause you to take stock of what is happening in your own life – what’s important and unimportant. Are the things you are doing really worthwhile or are they somewhat irrelevant in the final assessment? Recently I read a brief reflection from a person in the US who was thinking back to the destruction of the World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001. He spoke of how the response to that horrific event brought people to the point of thinking what was really important and how they were spending their time. Many changed their life habits, at least for a short time and worked less hours, tried to catch up with friends and to do some things which seemed more meaningful and significant. They also began going back to church in greater numbers, seeking some deeper spiritual meaning in their lives. Such moments cause us to ponder the deeper meaning and value of our lives!

Over the last couple of weeks I have had a few funerals for people who have been elderly and lived long, good lives. It has been fascinating to hear their stories, the stories of people who have lived in a very different world to me. They are the stories of people who have struggled through World Wars, the Depression and a world that seemed harsher but simpler in lifestyle.

I heard stories of people growing up on farms with no water, electricity or sewerage, things we take for granted! Life consisted of hard work and people struggled to make ends meet. Leisure activities were communal and special times that took a good deal of effort, including walking long distances to get there. People worked hard and saved hard to get things they needed and only after many years added the extras that are taken for granted now.

At the same time, there was a closeness of family and friends that isn’t always the case in modern society. The pace of life was slower and more deliberate. There was time and people used this time to live in the present rather than dream about the future that always stands ahead of us. Today, so many work and live for a future they never experience because it is always just in front of them. There are the oft heard words: ‘When we get this or that done…’ ‘When we’ve paid off the house, the car, the…’ Houses are so big today and the mortgages unbelievable. I am astounded at how so many young couples can afford some of the homes they purchase until I hear how they both work long, long hours to pay off the mortgage. The homes are full of the very best, which only contributes to the stress, whilst sitting unused for most of the week as the owners ‘live’ at work to pay everything off.

This stress is compounded as we are bombarded with blatant lies that come to us through the marketing gurus who would have us believe that we need this, that or the other to be happy! I see so many people chasing after dreams that will never materialise or are hollow anyway. In all of this, there is a society devoid of spiritual depth. Phillip Yancey writes: ‘A society that denies the supernatural ends up elevating the natural to supernatural status.’ In other words, we all want or need to worship something or have something that we hold up before us as ‘ultimate’. We live our lives for this something, or someone, and measure everything we do by this standard. The something we place before up front as our all-important goal, must be really worthwhile or we delude ourselves. Yancey tells a story of some researchers who painted big, bright female butterfly replicas on a sheet of cardboard. They were bigger and brighter than the real thing and they enticed the males away from the real thing. The males flew around the replicas and ignored the real female butterflies hovering nearby. Isn’t this a reality in our world!! It is easy to ignore or deny the real things that hold depth, worth and meaning and choose the simplistic, bright and popular things put before us. Sometimes it is plain easier, quicker and demands less energy. Things of enduring worth do require time and energy but they are ultimately worthwhile – it’s a choice we have to make.

I know, in my own life that the temptations are towards more and more busyness and then to complain about the stress and lack of time. I often wonder where time went and why I haven’t gotten through the things I’ve wanted to. Its easy to complain about workload and responsibilities but ultimately I make the choices and I can choose to do the things which are really important if that’s what I really want!

One of the choices I make is to worship in a church community and to regularly engage in reading, reflection, prayer and meditation that nurtures my spirit and gives me an alternative to the patterns of life and thought that come to me through the media – TV, movies, songs, radio, books and so on.

In our ‘supermarket world’ of choices, fast food and fast everything seem to be easier and even more desirable. Sometimes its necessary – our energy is low, time cramped and we need something quick but a McDonalds hamburger is never as good as a baked dinner! The easy choices, the popular choices and the quick choices are often superficial and transient in what they offer. They are hollow, thin and don’t last.

There is another way, a way that was declared to all of us through our baptism and the love displayed by our parents and those who taught us about God’s love. It is what we pray for when children have come for baptism. It is the way of faith in God. It’s not always easy or quick and it takes a bit of energy sometimes to read the Bible or a spiritual book, to pray or reflect, to speak to our children about God and to nurture our spirits. It takes energy to choose to do good things for others and to make time to nurture friendships and relationships. It takes time and energy to support a worthwhile cause that makes life better for those who have very little. Sometimes it takes money as well.

At the end of the day we will be healthier, more contented people who can look back with satisfaction at our work and life. It has meant something, enriched our own and other’s lives and we have been open to God’s grace and love.

A saying at our gym says: ‘Life is not a spectator sport!’ It’s not, so I encourage you to make time for God and to do something for your own spiritual well-being – read the Bible, a spiritual book, pray or meditate, join in worship, talk with a Christian friend. I encourage you to make some choices that nurture relationships, build a deeper sense of community and enrich other people’s lives. Finally, I encourage you to do some things that help your children make choices that we prayed for at their baptism, that they will grow in their understanding of God’s love for them and make the choice to follow him. We have some resources to help you and the special worship service on October 19 is aimed at helping all of us to get some ideas for nurturing children in faith and life (and ourselves along the way) – see the notice above.

May God be with you and bless you.