Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints
on the sand of time;
Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solenm main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.
Let us then be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait .”
― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Voices of the Night
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints
on the sand of time;
Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solenm main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.
Let us then be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait .”
― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Voices of the Night
EZEKIEL 43-44
23They are to teach my people the difference between the holy and the common and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean.(44:23)
JOURNAL
When life is really lived well...it is lived in consciousness of others. To live without regard for the influence one may have on another human being is to live carelessly. God makes it very clear that once he inhabits our hearts and souls then we represent him to the world. This is definitely a sobering reality.
This is a reality that often juxtaposed to the train wrecks played out by public figures becomes all the more sobering. A life lived for what it can attain, rather than for what it can give is a life of darkness. Yet often the ideal that's played up via advertising and by public figures herald adulation over service. As a result what is promoted and rewarded are those that achieve rather than those who give, those who conquer rather than those who comfort, those who acquire rather than those who sacrifice.
Quietly and humbly doing God's work is no longer the ideal...but rather self-promotion, arrogance, manipulation and power seem to be the characteristics of many of our leaders and heroes. These characteristics lead to using people rather than serving them. It leads to people being consumed with how many likes they have on a digital page rather than tending to the needs around them. Everything becomes focused on appearance rather than true spiritual depth.
These kinds of actions are the polar opposite of the life Christ lived and the way he commanded us to live. How did we become so blind to our own arrogance and self-absorption?
1“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
This is a reality that often juxtaposed to the train wrecks played out by public figures becomes all the more sobering. A life lived for what it can attain, rather than for what it can give is a life of darkness. Yet often the ideal that's played up via advertising and by public figures herald adulation over service. As a result what is promoted and rewarded are those that achieve rather than those who give, those who conquer rather than those who comfort, those who acquire rather than those who sacrifice.
Quietly and humbly doing God's work is no longer the ideal...but rather self-promotion, arrogance, manipulation and power seem to be the characteristics of many of our leaders and heroes. These characteristics lead to using people rather than serving them. It leads to people being consumed with how many likes they have on a digital page rather than tending to the needs around them. Everything becomes focused on appearance rather than true spiritual depth.
These kinds of actions are the polar opposite of the life Christ lived and the way he commanded us to live. How did we become so blind to our own arrogance and self-absorption?
1“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
2“So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
MATTHEW 6:1-4