LOVE FIRST…LOVE MOST Session 1

The Most Important Thing in Life

CHAPTER 1     THE AIRPORT

The strange sight was even more unforgettable than the frantic sounds. I was among the startled bystanders witnessing a most unusual event as the early morning solitude was interrupted by rumbling steps and piercing shouts.

I was staring out the large airport window at the sun peeking over the eastern horizon. The passengers in the adjoining gate area had just boarded the first flight out. The gate attendant delivered the final passenger count to the flight crew, hung up the phone, and closed the entry door.

The floor began to vibrate, and the corridor was filled with desperate screams; but it was not an earthquake.

Stomp and shout. Stomp and shout.

The thundering steps became louder and closer. The distraught cries went from indistinguishable to understandable. “Wait! Wait! Stop the plane! Hold up!”

Suddenly, the loud stomps and louder shouts were united in one man racing toward the closed gate. The desperate passenger appeared from the terminal concourse on a dead sprint toward the agent’s counter. The mayhem was visual and audible.

The thirty- something, slightly overweight man was breathing heavily as he hurried toward his departing plane. He was dressed in a green blazer worn over a gray t-shirt. A striped tie was loosely wrapped around his neck, hanging down his back. His early morning ensemble included brown winged-tipped dress shoes. No socks. They dangled from the sport coat side pocket.  A toothbrush protruded from the front pocket.

The stunning blue gym shorts were the highlight of the fashion show. It placed a different spin on Casual Friday office attire. Straight from the bed to the plane kind of look. His uncombed hair seemed appropriate to the occasion. It does not take Sherlock Holmes to conclude this man overslept.

Dress shirt and slacks were rolled and tucked under his arm like a football. One hand carried a brown briefcase and flailing belt, the other an extendable poster tube used as a carry-on case for architectural drawings, artwork, or large documents.

Fortunately, the airline agent called the pilot and stopped the plane’s departure from the gate. She held up her hand in consolation and graciously explained to the man he would make his flight.

As she processed his ticket, the thankful passenger explained the reasons for his late arrival. However, it was his panting anxiety over the danger of missing the flight which occupied most of his animated conversation.

His gasps for air were interspersed with expressions of gratitude. “Thank you! Thank you! You saved my job! You saved my life!”

As he lifted the cylinder carton, he struggled for words to emphasize his predicament. “If I don’t get this to the ten o’clock meeting, I will be fired! This presentation is my one responsibility. It’s the most important thing in my career.”

The gate attendant encouraged him to calm down and catch his breath because the plane was waiting for him to board. Overjoyed with the outcome of avoiding his near disaster, he continued to relate his future employment and marital happiness to the importance of getting his project to the meeting.

As he entered the sky bridge to the plane, he turned and waved at the agent and all the gawking onlookers. He did the two-arms-raised victory dance to signal his triumphant departure. He looked like the iconic statue of Rocky in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

“Yo Adrian! I did it!”

I could almost hear The Eye of the Tiger soundtrack playing.

The door closed and the airline worker stood next to me as we watched the plane back away from the terminal and head for the runway. I sighed and spoke what many were thinking, “That was wild!”

The attendant smiled in reply, “It was close. I am so glad he made the flight, especially happy for his wife.”

As the plane lifted off on its journey, I returned to my view of the sunrise, just a little more grateful for the brief peace. Suddenly, there was a scream! The gate agent shouted, “Oh, No! Oh, No!”

I turned to watch her hold up the elongated poster tube left behind. Our entertaining passenger made his flight, but his most important thing did not. I wondered about when he would discover his error and the horror of his misery.

I could only imagine his cries of anguish as he thought about the shouts to come from a displeased boss and the endless screams of a distraught wife.

HE FORGOT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING!

There went up a muffled roar,                                                                                   Like the beating of the storm-waves on a stern and distant shore…                      Oh, somewhere in this favoured land the sun is shining bright,     The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light, And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout shout,               But there is no joy in Mudville—mighty Casey has struck out.   (“Casey at the Bat” by Ernest Lawrence Thayer)                    

Our beleaguered traveler made his flight but left behind the most important reason for his flight. I felt empathy for him, but his ill-fated adventure taught me a vital lesson regarding our precious lives.

How many of us live that way? I dare not condemn the guy.

Missed wake-up call? I missed a business meeting and several college classes because I overslept. Usually, it was unintentional. I have experienced not hearing the alarm as well as clock malfunctions, once from an electrical outage and another due to my miscalculation.

Fashion faux pas? I made more than a few. I have engaged in public speaking with my blazer wrongly buttoned, so I appeared to be shaped like the Hunchback from Notre Dame. I have worn mismatched socks, a chocolate-stained dress shirt, brown belt with black suit, ripped pants, and the coup-de-gras…the open fly.

Forgotten items? I left behind some important things as I headed to meetings. My billfold, cell phone, speaking notes, even a co-worker.

Life can feel hectic. Time can seem short or stressful. Deadlines become problematic, and pressure packed. Difficult people test our best intentions.

No condemnation from me. However, I have learned from Airport Andy’s mistake. What is the most important thing in life?

Certainly, there is much dialogue, discussion, and debate regarding this critical issue. Some experts cite education, health, and wealth. Popular writings also include happiness, career, security. Serious consideration must be given to Time.

Some people are entrenched in their opinions. Others change choices as often as the tide turns.

What do you think is the most important thing in life? Faith? Family? Friends? Freedom? Fun? Could you be wrong?

One day, the wisest man who ever lived was asked that intriguing question regarding the most important thing in life. Jesus answered, “The most important thing is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength; and love others as yourself. Everything else in life hangs on that” (#1 Textbook).

Love God and love others. That is the most important thing in life, in faith, in family, in friendships. In fun or work. In freedom or bondage. In health or sickness. In career or retirement. In prosperity or adversity.

Are you in danger of missing the most important thing in all of life? It should become inseparable from your life’s purpose and practice and pleasure.

The Son of God identified the most important thing in life. The perfect first man who lived in Paradise learned that lesson. The most privileged man in an imperfect world validated that same conclusion:

Love God and love others. Everything else is vanity.

The perfect Adam took a forbidden bite from the Tree of Knowledge just to learn he forgot the most important thing. The privileged King Solomon extensively researched and thoroughly investigated everything else in this world in a search to find the most pleasure in life, only to discover he left behind the most important thing in life. His study determined lasting satisfaction cannot be found in things, money, pleasures, treasures, fame, or fortune of this world. That pursuit is like chasing the wind.

Like the once perfect and most privileged, we tend to get caught up in the same role as Bill Murray’s character in Groundhog Day, trapped in a repetitive but futile search for lasting happiness. In a foreboding sense of déjà vu, we try different experiences, but we remain stuck in a perpetual prison where nothing has changed. We awake each morning to run in circles, chasing the wind. Nothing gained. Just the same-day emptiness.

We desperately rush to catch a plane to our intended destination but leave the most important thing behind on the counter.

It does not matter if you run in the fast lane huffing and puffing in a competitive rat race for honor and happiness, or slowly grind your way through the mud ruts, weighted down with fear and worry. Both styles are exhausting with inescapable deadlines, unrealistic demands, and incessant drive-by social attacks.

The man-made shock absorbers are ineffective against the road rage. Drivers bounce down the freeways on axles of anxiety and anger. Fast and furious. Slow and steady. Endless circles of vanity.

What is vanity? It literally refers to a fleeting vapor or breath which vanishes quickly and leaves nothing behind. It is sometimes translated meaningless, without substance or purpose.

Vanity is an undertaking that is clearly and completely proven to be foolish, futile, and a failure, resulting in major disappointment. 

What was anticipated to be great joy and success ends up in major disappointment. Sounds depressing.

The proven disappointment is supposed to draw and drive us to the truth. Love God and love others.

How do we miss that? Why do we complicate that? Why do we try anything and everything else? Without the most important thing, life is vanity.

The quintessential analysis of mankind describes life as a gift from the Creator God who designed love as the key to  maximum and lasting happiness. That echoes the answer of Jesus to the question regarding the most important thing in life.

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, all your strength and love others as yourself.”

What is love? Total commitment to the best interests of the other person, unconditional in attitude and unselfish in actions, whenever and wherever.

Love with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength…all the time. Jesus treats us that way and calls us to follow Him in loving others in the same manner. Love always looks like limitless self-sacrificial service.

Our life is a gift from God to be enjoyed. The greatest enjoyment comes when we discover the greatest thing to do with your life. Do not miss out on what is most important, loving God and loving others.

Do not oversleep on this. Do not rush through life unprepared. Do not engage in premature victory dances. Do not move today from place to place, from relationship to relationship, without the most important thing in life.

Anchor your life to purposeful significance and lasting happiness on this maxim: Love God and love others, whenever and wherever.

How do you love others?

Love First. Love Most. (next chapter)

Love Anchor 1: Remember the most important thing in life. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength; and love others as yourself.