Myeen!

Have you ever seen Finding Nemo? If you have, you'll most definitely remember those birds who, when they saw something they wanted would start chanting, "Myeen!" (Mine!).

Our culture is sick with this mentality to the point where my generation is living as though we are retired, spending away tomorrow today...

I am no exception to my generation; when I see a new electronic device or get into a new hobby, it's whole-hog. Give me the latest, newest thing going and give it to me now! It's Myeen! :)

The thing is, I don't think God is against us having things (especially needed, useful things). His focus of concern is whether or not we are focusing on these things to the point where they become god and we end up worshiping created things instead of the Creator. I also believe all of our things should be given back to God in one way or another.

God understands that we invest resources into this life and is okay with us being prepared both now and in the future. "Stewardship" (hate those lingo words) is important. However, God is FAR more concerned that we not only prepare for this life, but that we prepare for the next as well. We begin "preparation for disembarkation" (ah, the ferry days) by coming to believe that "a Power greater than ourselves" can "restore us to sanity."

This point is illustrated by Jesus in a parable in Luke 12. He tells the story of a man who spent his whole life focusing on the here and now - gathering and building a kingdom of stuff for himself. Then God comes to him and speaks these words: 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?" EEP.

Death certainly levels the playing field doesn't it? It promptly puts things into proper perspective. There's nothing that will draw our attention toward the futility of stuff-gathering like a good look at the end. What else will cause anyone to take a good hard look at God?

Knowledge of the future is one of those things that sets us apart from the animals, right? No squirrel sits on the forest floor, eating his acorn thinking, "Jeeze, when and how will I die?! I - am going - to - DIE!" Aren't we lucky? We get to do that ...it' s part of the whole, 'made in the image of God' thing. Yet, death (once heard it called the "Signal Blessing" because it causes us to catch a signal from God) can only be a blessing in the sense that it calls out futility and sharpens our attention on matters of importance (if there is any positive spin on death, that's the best attempt I've heard).

Nothing can be held in the hand for very long, can it? What's myeen is really not myeen at all. And in the end, only one thing belongs to us - and the great thing is, He sees you and says, "Myeen!" Are you preparing for disembarkation? May we come to believe the Power greater than ourselves and be restored from this insanity.