Responding to Life
“If serving the Lord seems undesirable to you,
then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve…
but as for me and my household we will serve the Lord.”
--Joshua to the people of Israel (Joshua 24:15)
“Don’t spend your precious time asking
“Why isn’t the world a better place?’
It will only be time wasted.
A better question to ask is ‘How can I make it better?’
To that question there is an answer.”
--Leo Buscaglia (The Way of the Bull), p. 125
I hope you have been able to read some of Buscaglia’s writings, they are wonderful. He took a journey through Asia assimilating Oriental traditions into his understanding about the mysteries of life. In Asia the bull symbolically represents life. Another way to title the book could be The Way of Life. This week we are traveling with Leo to explore some life-lessons.
From time to time we encounter things that can really have an impact on our lives. We may experience the tough times that Joshua and the people of Israel experienced on the wilderness journey before Joshua issued the statement printed above. We may journey to Calcutta like Buscaglia did; there he found the poverty and living conditions to be almost overwhelming. We may walk into the room of a patient here at the hospital and find a devastated family. We may vacation in some part of our great land and see some deplorable sights that leave a memorable impression. Recent experiences of the natural disasters in 2011 have taken their toll on millions.
The way we respond to such encounters is important. Joshua and Leo Buscaglia give us some valuable insights.
A prayer: God, guide my life and fill me with appropriate responses. Amen.
--Ben Keckler
10.5.11
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