When you give it all away
Day before I fly, I wake up early. Take a hot bath. Reflect on my dream. It was strange.
I’m talking with a guy who has long since been dead. Kate and I are both there. We are all in this huge house. The floors are rotting. The view is great but we never actually see the view. We look at the walls imagining the ocean. The shower runs hot. Clean towels and clothes are stacked on the floor. I question their cleanliness. Should we buy a boat. I think I will wear shorts under my suit. Is that Link getting up. I awake.
0630. I slept for about 5 hours. Maybe the 4 hour nap in the afternoon yesterday wasn’t that great of an idea. I’m 51, I should know better but then again cookies never spoiled my appetite.
I learned last year that my high school English teacher had died. I really liked her. She didn’t seem to like me but I secretly thought that maybe she was impressed with the way I was creative with the English language. The meter, rhyme, spelling and rules. I May not always color in the lines (I’m a bit color blind -and isn’t that what so many are trying to imitate?) but I always communicate. Always.
And there are few hard and fast instances of “Always.” The first that comes to mind is this, “You don’t need, keep, or take anything with you.” I think of the song that was playing during my aforementioned dream. It was a new take on U2s new lyric to their old song Beautiful Day. They sing, “You can only have it all if you give it all away.” The lyric my voice was singing (and a totally different tune) was, “You can only have it all WHEN you give it all away.”
The operative word is not “IF,” the operative word is “WHEN.” When you give it all away- see you are going to give it all away. Will it be because you die and enter into new life? Or will it be because you realize the potential that giving it all away has while you are alive?
Giving it all away- frees you to live, empowers others to live, helps you see the eternal, make sense. Giving it all away doesn’t mean you don’t have anything. It means you don’t have anything that is not part of helping, caring, empowering, loving.
The wealthiest friend I have (I’m strictly talking about money and land-
he has a lot) practices this. Everything he owns he uses to make others lives better. I have met dozens and dozens of people that he has empowered and picked up. He has literally funded many ventures of caring for others. He has eternal perspective.
Growing up we did not have a lot of money. I was fixated on stuff. Clothes, cars and food. I never could seem to get enough food.
I think somewhere along the line I got a few meals ahead. The Camino may help me lose those pounds. Seeing less of me won’t be a bad thing.
So the point: don’t wait to “give it all away.” Don’t put yourself in a position where you cannot help -do the opposite. Put yourself in a position where everything you have is geared at inspiring others, sharing that Gospel message with others, helping others, picking up those who fall, walking a few miles with those consumed with the glitter and glitch of this world’s VERTigo.
Be the Chance someone needs. Be the Change your imagination dreams. Be the reason someone considers eternal perspective. Be real. Be aware. Be alive. Be you. You are full of wonder. You have loads to offer. You are cool.
Think about it: Christ comes here for YOU.
