Looking Ahead...

I came across a quote this morning while I was working on an article for the church’s newsletter. Here it is: People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring. ~Rogers Hornsby. For those that don’t know, Rogers Hornsby (and, yes, his name is Rogers, with an “s” at the end) was a baseball player in the early 20th century. He still holds the record for single season batting average, hitting .424 in 1924 with the St. Louis Cardinals.

I love the spring. The air just seems fresher, the temperature is finally bearable, and the baseball season is getting into the “swing” of things. It’s a great time of the year. But what about winter? Yeah, I don’t like the winter. It’s cold, it’s dark all the time, it snows, but what do we miss when we “stare out the window and wait for spring”? Life is always happening all around us, whether we are paying attention to it or not. Are we staring out the window waiting for something to happen before we start to enjoy life, or are we living in the midst of less than ideal situations?

I must admit that I’ve spent my fair share of time looking out the window. In fact, that pretty much sums up my college experience. I knew in high school that I was going into vocational ministry. College was never anything more than a stepping stone to seminary for me. I didn’t enjoy it. In fact, I really didn’t like college all that much. Just this morning Katie (my wife) and I were talking about lunches for the South Indiana Annual Conference, and I honestly have no desire to go to the University of Evansville lunch. That is how little I cared about college. That is how much I spent looking out the window, waiting for the spring of my educational career. I think I made a major mistake.

In John 10, Jesus says that he came so that we can have life and have it abundantly. Through Jesus Christ’s life, death and resurrection, we can live for all eternity in the presence of our Creator, but it doesn’t start with our death. Eternity starts now. Jesus did not come for the sole purpose of getting us out of hell. If we approach our salvation as a form of “fire insurance,” then we have missed the point. Salvation is about eternity, it is about spending an eternity in relationship with the Triune God, but it is also about how we live our lives now.

I spent so much time looking ahead that I never really lived life to the fullest for three entire years of my life. (I say three years not because it took me only three years to get through college, but because Katie and I got married just before my senior year, and life changes when you are married.) So, if you would indulge me, learn from my mistake. Life live to the fullest right now. Don’t always look ahead, anticipating the future at the cost of the present.

Just some musings from a traveling pilgrim