EMBRACING A LIFE OF MEANING

 As we begin the Easter Season, we think of new life and the hope of the resurrection. However, the last couple of books that I have read have been on death and dying. These include When Breath Becomes Air, a memoir written by Paul Kalanithi, a promising young neurosurgeon who learned he was dying of cancer, and Being Mortal, an exploration by author Atul Gawande of what is most meaningful to people as they face their own deaths. Both of these books, in confronting death, ask important questions about life. Which, in turn, has caused me to examine what is most important in my life.

One of the dangers of life is that we fall into the trap of living our life on auto pilot. We can go through days, weeks, even years without making real decisions about and commitments to what is important to us, such as our family or our faith. Our goal in life can simply become providing financial security. Such a limited goal can rob us of a meaningful life.

Our Easter Sermon Series is inspired by these questions: What is a good life? What makes death a good death? The series is entitled Embracing A Life of Meaning. The five week sermon series will examine topics on what matters to many people in living lives of meaning: Belief, The Scriptures, Community, Place, and Ourselves, and how we choose to live with the time we have been given. This series is based on material from award-winning poet and writer Kathleen Norris.

As we well know, none of us is guaranteed a long life, but each of us can live a meaningful life. How one person describes a meaningful life may not be the same for someone else, but I think as people of faith, there will be some common characteristics. The rich young ruler asked Jesus what was the most important law, and Jesus replied, “Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind and body, and your neighbor as yourself.”  How does this verse translate into living our lives in the twenty first century?

I invite you to join me and the rest of the St. Luke community as we ask important questions and examine the lives we live.