LOVE FIRST…LOVE MOST

The Most Important Thing in Life

CHAPTER 5   THE WRONG DIRECTION (Part 2)

The first visit to Boston by this unsophisticated, small-town Midwestern high-school hick proved to be a Tale of Two Cities. I loved the home of the Celtics, Patriots, Bruins, and Red Sox. I did not like the cold, crowded city. I ended my visit early, ready to be home. My grown-up kids travel the land in their various endeavors, but they all have that same homesick DNA.

As I waited for a taxi to the airport, a Charles Dickens type bystander suggested I take the subway, which would be quicker and less expensive. He gave me instructions on where to enter this underground transportation portal and how to take the Red Line and change trains at South Station.

The only subway with which I was familiar was a sandwich, but this sounded so metropolitan. I went down the steps to purchase a subway token, through the subway turnstile, and onto the recommended train. The subway train traveled underground at high speeds before it came to a sudden stop. The doors opened as many passengers exited, only to be replaced by hundreds of others, pushing and pressing their way into the crowded car. With the swishing sound of closing doors, the train roared back into the darkness until it approached the next flashing light.

This was all wildly unfamiliar to me. The subway sounds, crowd, and many exits created choices beyond my customary options. The town I grew up in had only one flashing light. It was not a stop light. There was an electrical short in the Dairy Bar sign. There were only two ways out of my small town. Fast or slow.

I panicked when the subway car passed the Charles Street station. My recollection of the advised directions to the airport bound Blue Line was cloudy. I exited at the next stop and boarded the nearby Green Line. Red? Blue? Green? What’s the difference?

Apparently, color recognition matters. Unbeknownst to me, the Green Line went the wrong direction. It headed away from the airport and out into the suburbs.

Eventually, we appeared above ground moving through the darkness as a trolley car. My late-night mass transportation passed many exits with no airport in sight. The farther we traveled, the fewer people remained on board. Soon, we were far away from any city lights. I lost my bearings! My confusion became fright.

I did not know whether these subway trains turned around or just dumped the remaining passengers into some abyss. Perhaps I should ask another passenger, but there were only two choices. One man appeared as if he had been on this subway car for twenty years. At least his stare and smell fit that profile. The other guy looked like the chainsaw murderer. Leatherface just stood there with a menacing scowl, muttering something. I suspected the buzzing sound was coming from under his overcoat.

If you are in a horror movie, you make bad decisions.

Too embarrassed to ask and too afraid to do nothing, I got off alone at the next exit in complete darkness. No station and no people. It looked like the middle of Nowhere. This could not be Boston or anywhere near an airport. I had definitely gone in the wrong direction.

Thankfully, I saw a taxi driver using a pay phone under a streetlight. He informed me I was headed in the wrong direction from the airport but offered to take me there. The ride cost more than if I had originally travelled by taxi rather than by the subway to the suburbs’ route.

I know that some readers are questioning the truthfulness of this story. To the surprise of many, there was a time before cell phones, Google maps, and Siri directions. You had to ask another living person.

I once stopped to ask for directions in Hollyrood, Kansas. That’s right. Hollyrood, (with an “R”) the land of dreams. Some dreams come true; some don’t. But keep on dreamin’. That might be the sage advice in Pretty Woman’s Tinseltown, butthis Holyrood intersection might be where dreams are buried because no one knows the way out.

The highway came to a three-way split where the sign to Kansas City pointed straight up. I stopped to ask a mechanic the best way to get to KC. Gomer Pyle pondered for a moment, then asked, “How are you going?”

Well, I might take a train;                                                                                          

might take a plane, but if I have to walk,                                                                              

I’m going just the same.                                                                                                        

I’m going to Kansas City. Kansas City here I come.

He cut me off before I got to part about the crazy lil’ women there and I’m going to get me one. That was OK. I already had one in the car.

While I am referencing a world unknown to many of you, let me add this hurtful zinger. My younger son wondered if I lived when the world was still black and white. What?

“Hey, Dad. Were you born when the world was just black and white like Beaver and Opie?”

That’s what I get for letting him watch TV.

This subway fiasco was not a black and white decision. My wrong-way adventure had been full of many colors with embarrassing red and scared white still to come.

My wrong-way subway adventure eventually led me to the wrong airport in New York City. I took an air shuttle out of Boston’s Logan Airport to NYC’s LaGuardia Airport. However, I missed my connecting flight back home. Why? Apparently, there are two big New York City airports. Who knew that? My plane ticket home departed from Kennedy Airport; I spent the night on a bench in the LaGuardia terminal.

The nightmare got worse. Feeling stupid and a little fearful, I sought to make the best of it. I ordered some hot chocolate and a sandwich at the late-night coffee shop. Suddenly, three large, very tall men closed in on both sides of me. They looked like giants. My parents had warned me about pickpockets, robbers, not talking to strangers, and not taking candy from giants!

The tallest man pushed up against me as he reached for the sugar and cream, knocking me into the giant on my left side which caused him to spill his coffee. His annoyed stare down was terrifying. With my heart pounding, I hurriedly backed out of the area, leaving behind my hot chocolate and uneaten sandwich. I returned to my terminal bench struggling to breathe.

Terminal: Webster’s Dictionary describes terminal as “the end of something,” like a transportation route or a person’s life. It carries the idea that this is where you get off…permanently. I felt like I was in a double terminal. I seriously thought this airport terminal bench might be my life’s terminal. Hope had faded.

My decision making was at an all-time low.

[Note: As years have passed, my decision making has plummeted to new depths.]

As I surveyed my safety options, I recognized some familiarity to the faces of these tall men scattered around the waiting area. I was hanging out with the Boston Celtics basketball team who had just played the New York Knicks in Madison Square Garden. It would not be accurate to say we were hanging out together in the airport. Instead of asking for autographs, I ran the wrong way toward my secluded corner of the terminal like some scared chicken.

This wrong way subway incident–embarrassing, frightening, even dangerous–was an allegory of my spiritual life at the time. I, along with many well-intentioned people, was headed in the wrong direction spiritually. Just because the world cheers and celebrates the folly and futility of our lifestyle choices, does not mean we are headed the right way.

In a previous session, right direction had to do with one’s goal at the end of this life’s journey. Most people die the way they lived. There are no surprises. We end up where we are headed.

The signposts are clearly marked: Love always wins and self-centeredness always loses. Always.

My subway misdirection allegory begs for contemplation of another question. Is there any advantage to which direction we go in life? Certainly, which direction we take makes a difference if the destination is the airport. But what if we are searching for meaningful purpose and lasting happiness?

Which direction provides the highest benefit? Every direction along life’s journey advertises happiness, but which one produces the greatest advantage? Have you ever really considered that question?

Is there any advantage to race, nationality, sexual orientation, educational opportunity, environmental factors, appearance, ability, health, or wealth? 

What advantage results from the direction you choose to take in life? What if you deliberately choose to ride the self-centered subway train? What will you have at the end of your journey? Those questions are realistic stuff, worthy of more than just a casual thought or mindless pursuit.

The #1 Textbook tracks down the truth amidst all the false information, fake news, and intentional deception. The advice is realistic, right, and relevant.

The most privileged man in history devoted his unsurpassed wisdom, incomparable wealth, and uncontested freedom to the study of lasting happiness. King Solomon’s credentials were impeccable. He was a scholar skilled in science, the arts, philosophy, theology, architecture, botany, and business.

He carefully and thoroughly analyzed man’s work and leisure, suffering and joy, treasures and pleasures, from beginning to end. He lived life the right way in wisdom and then the wrong way in foolishness.

He explored every possible advantage in life. He worked the hardest and partied the wildest. He built the biggest, possessed the largest, invented the newest, enjoyed the finest, and became the greatest. He explored the farthest, lasted the longest, climbed the highest, and sunk the lowest.

He went to the limits of amusement, alcohol, achievements, agriculture, abundance, adoration, affairs, and ambition. They all came up empty. After he exhausted all the A’s, he moved right on through the alphabet of activities until he had finished the Z’s. He had more and did more than anyone else before him or since.

His test of pleasure became a test of himself, and his blue book was marked, “Vanity.” Written in red ink letters across his lifelong research thesis were the words: “This is all worth nothing; it is vanity, apart from God.”

That study took place nearly three millenniums ago, yet still stands true today. The top-rated song of the last century was the Rolling Stones’ I Can’t Get No Satisfaction.

Much has changed, but nothing has really changed. More possessions or different pleasures have never brought lasting happiness. The perception of change is a man-made illusion whose bubble will burst. Why?

The divine design of life cannot be changed. Life is fundamentally broken. Something is missing. “You cannot straighten out something that is twisted, and you cannot count something which is not there; there is no use thinking of what might have been because it never existed” (#1 Textbook).

There is no use thinking of what might have been because it never existed. Contemplate on that truth instead of wishing for what might have been in your life. It never existed. Consider the divine design for your life.

Left to ourselves, we can never figure life out or fix it. Not with calculators and duct tape. Not with computers and gorilla glue. When people embark on a self-centered journey through life, they will always self-destruct. It is in our DNA.

In the movie Star Wars, the rebellion stole the plans for the first Death Star, which had a fatal flaw built into its core. The direct hit from Luke Skywalker’s X-Wing caused a chain reaction to set off the Death Star’s destruction from within.

Without love for God, every man and woman remains in self-destructive mode, from past to present and into the future. It is inherent in our design, a chain reaction of errors, broken and irreparable.

Politicians promise change, advertisers promote change, self-help books describe how to change. Why is there no change? Life is broken!

People are still unfair to the poor. Leaders are still corrupt and incompetent. Injustice, racism, prejudice, conflict, hatred, and selfishness remain constants even with new technological and philosophical advances. Life cannot be fixed!

We continue to make bad decisions and run in the wrong direction carrying our treasure chest of toys, trinkets, and trash. It does not matter if we chase the wind on camels, wagons, subways, or spaceships. It will be travel to futility.

Most life coaches in our enlightened culture argue and refute that conclusion, which makes this reliable information so relevant. The world and its advertising agencies market the prospect of happiness in the next things it wants you to possess, whether it is a new job, new spouse, new car, new home, or new identity.

However, something new never fixes the fatal flaw within the human heart. People are the same, as self-centered as they were three thousand years ago. Humans still desire to be happy, just as they did then. The built-in self-centered flaw in the search will continue to self-destruct for another three thousand years, apart from divine intervention.

Thankfully, God is the same and He does intervene.

God designed the dead-end goals of self-love to draw and drive us to Himself, so we do not self-destruct.

Our Creator designed us to enjoy life to the fullest when we love Him by loving others. Any other direction is the wrong way.

DIRECTION matters if we are to learn how to love. Our DECISIONS matter too. Many of us have sunk to new lows with our selfishness. How does that happen? Selfish choices are always wrong decisions.

The most important directive and decision in life can be found in the #1 Textbook. “Love the Lord your God…for in His presence is fullness of joy.” Love is a decision to not live a self-centered life. That is not always easy; it is always best.

Decide to Love First. Then decide to Love Most.

“If you have not chosen the kingdom of God first, it will in the end make no difference what you chose instead. For you have missed the purpose for which you were formed, and you have forsaken the only thing that satisfies” (William Law).

Recognition of God’s presence and purpose marks the beginning of your dreams of meaningful significance and lasting happiness, not the end. Any other direction is deadly to those aspirations.

Many do not even look for spiritual help until their life is in pieces. The self-centered train will always leave you stranded on the Green Line of Envy or the Blue Line of Bitterness. There is no reason to self-destruct. Stop. Get off. Find a spiritual taxi or shuttle or even a park bench where you can think and look at your life.

People get ready; there’s a train a comin’.                                                                              You don’t need no baggage; you just get on board.                                                                  All you need is faith to hear the diesel’s hummin’;                                                              Don’t need no ticket, you just thank the Lord.                                                                    (Curtis Mayfield, covered by Aretha and Seal)

Self-centeredness and Love travel in opposite directions. One direction destroys relationships along the way to its selfish destination. The other salvages the lives of stranded people no matter what colored line they traveled.

If you are not on the Love First, Love Most train, then it will in the end make no difference what you chose to do with your life. You will have missed the purpose for which you were created.

This is the part where the O’Jays start singing in the background.                              “People, all over the world…join hands. Start a love train, love train.”

Where are you on life’s journey? What is your direction?

Look up. God will always be there waiting with arms wide open.

There is still time to learn to Love First and Love Most. All Aboard!

Why is the right direction so important?

It is the only path to lasting happiness. (next session)

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.

Love Anchor 2: Love First. Love Most. God lives inside of you to lead you to others He intends to love through you.

Love Anchor 3: Study the #1 Textbook. Love for God and love for others lasts forever. The instructions and directions are in the book.

Love Anchor 4: Right Direction Matters. Life is about right direction, not perfection. Course corrections take just one step.

The Most Important Thing in Life

CHAPTER 4   THE WRONG DIRECTION (Part 1)

Years ago, I watched a high school player run the wrong way in a football game. It was both wild and weird. Funny and sad. An instant classic. If a similar event happened this year, the video would go viral and secure its spot in the ESPN Top Ten highlights. The home team was playing their archrival for the conference championship. Their offense had driven down to the twenty-yard line when everything went bonkers.

The quarterback scrambled to his left until a defensive player spun him around and stripped the football from his grasp. The loose ball sailed toward the middle of the line of scrimmage.

A sophomore guard, starting his first game of the season because of a teammate’s injury, whiffed on his block attempt and fell to the turf. As he stood upright, the football hit him right in the stomach, just a few yards away from a victorious touchdown and instant stardom.

All lineman dream of one opportunity to tote the rock, to rumble with the old pigskin, to win one for the Gipper.

Unfortunately, this bumbling and befuddled lineman was facing the wrong direction. Unfazed by the pressure-packed moment, he started running for the goal line eighty yards away. This is where things got WEIRD!

The next few minutes felt like forever in slow motion. The new center of attention ducked and dodged some players engaged in gridiron combat along the line of scrimmage. His nifty sidesteps freed him from the congestion as he quickly veered toward the sideline. This was his one shining moment!

As the wrong-way prodigy raced down the field, the chase was on. Players from both teams frantically followed in hot pursuit, most as confused as this wrong way runner. Two opposing defenders, who should have pushed the galloping runner onward to their goal line, attempted to tackle him. He stiff-armed one of them, while a teammate, who should have stopped him, made a tremendous block to free him from the opponent’s desperate grasp. Not even Superman could stop this powerful locomotive.

His formidable gluteus maximus muscles stormed down the sidelines. Blasts of air plummeted through his face mask. He went airborne over another diving defender.

Football fanatics recalled similar gridiron runners. Sweetness. The Galloping Ghost. The Bus. Crazy Legs. Night Train. The Kansas Comet. Prime Time.

The absence of instinctive moves and lack of outstanding peripheral vision did not deter this ballcarrier. They only sped him on his way in the wrong direction, reminiscent of other legendary names. Doofus. Nincompoop. Riegels. Marshall. Corrigan. My younger brother.

Roy Riegels infamously executed a sixty-five yards wrong way run in the Rose Bowl championship, often cited as the worst blunder in college football history.

Minnesota Viking, Jim Marshall, accomplished the feat in the NFL. He picked up a fumble and rumbled sixty-six yards to the wrong endzone, where he celebrated by spiking the football.

“Wrong Way” Corrigan was the pilot who flew his plane west out of New York headed to Los Angeles, but somehow landed in Dublin, Ireland.

My brother? Well, he shot the basketball at the wrong goal in a high school game. However, our family shame was somewhat overshadowed when an opposing player blocked the layup. You might have to pause and envision that for a moment. Brother tried to score two points for the wrong team and a wrong-team player went to great effort to not let that happen. Dumb and Dumber.

Back to the football game. Doofus and Nincompoop were still running the wrong way down the football field in anticipation of glory.

As our hero roared past the bench area, the coaches were yelling, waving, and shouting, “NO! NO! NO!”

The cheerleaders turned around to see him dashing for the end zone and started jumping up and down, screaming, “GO! GO! GO!”

Never underestimate the powerful influence of a cheerleader’s exhortation. This young lineman pranced his way across the wrong goal line. He began to dance, holding the football high like a trophy. His first hint of wrongdoing should have been the celebratory hugs from the guys wearing different colored jerseys. In the most-watched event of his athletic career, he scored for the opposing team.

However, that is not the end of this wrong-way jaunt story. The extremely bizarre events were about to soar into new heights of the paranormal.

The awkward celebration was interrupted when an equally confused member of the rival team tackled him in the end zone. The baffled referee ran toward the pile of players with both arms straight to the sky and signaled “TOUCHDOWN,” when in fact it was a safety scored for the opposing team.

Suddenly, befuddlement and bewilderment became teammates with pandemonium and mayhem. In that moment of confusion, everyone jumped up and down, some players in jubilation, some in disgust, the coaches throwing down clipboards and headsets in anguish. The cheerleaders leaped and hugged in celebration and then…unbelievably…the band struck up the school fight song!

It was sheer chaos! Some fans stood in shock; others halfheartedly clapped out of loyalty to the rousing music. As my beloved uncle often said, “I was aghast!”

This was the Twilight Zone, Fifth Dimension, or some Matrix Nightmare. I stared at the outlandish scene, wondering, “What’s the matter with me? Am I crazy?”

THE GUY RAN THE WRONG WAY!

Right direction in life is more important than perfection. Which direction in life are you running? Are you carrying the most important thing in life, to love God and love others? Or are you wrapped up in yourself as you run toward the opposite goal line of self-centeredness?

Right direction is a key element to living for the most important thing in life. In this illustration from sports, the football player did not make the mistake of Airport Andy in the introductory chapter who departed without his ultimate purpose. Wrong-Way Danny retained tight possession of the football and carried it to his destination.

He intended to accomplish the right purpose, but he was mistaken about the right direction. No one cared if he sprinted eighty yards just for the exercise. The confusion occurred when the intent did not match the result.

There is a way which seems right to people, but the end is destruction (#1 Textbook). Unfortunately, we live in a society which cheers wildly for those headed down the wrong path to destruction. It seems and feels right at the time. Popularity and fun applaud every step. Even the so-called experts get it wrong.

In my account of the wrong way football player, the referees got confused and more things went wrong than just the misdirected runner crossing the wrong goal line. The first official signaled the wrong-way run to be a touchdown that scored six points for the home team. In reality, it was supposed to be ruled a safety that awarded two points to the visitors. A second referee correctly signaled safety. So, both school bands filled the air with competing fight songs.

Following the end zone confusion, the teams lined up for the kick-off from the forty-yard line which is the proper place if this had been a post-touchdown kick. As the would-be kicker approached the ball, an official blew his whistle and began flailing his arms. He reset the players to the twenty-yard line where the kick should occur after a safety. As my mom often said, “There are geese at every level.”

Somebody kick the ball from somewhere. Now, let’s go! No. Stop! Just as the ball was kicked, another whistle stopped the action. The kick-off was halted when a coach recognized that each team was lined up on the wrong end of the field. Both teams were going the wrong direction!

My mother often lectured her sons, “Just because everyone else is running to jump off the cliff does not mean that you should. At least, stop and think.”

Do not listen to this world’s counsel on how to run your life. The band might even strike up the school song to celebrate chasing the wind in the wrong direction. However, when the dust clears and the rules of the game are enforced, this wrong-way runner ends up with the nothingness of vanity.

Running the wrong direction in life is an undertaking of vanity that is completely and clearly proven to be foolish, futile, and a failure, resulting in major disappointment. 

Check your spiritual direction today. Winning in life is like winning a sports championship. You do not have to do everything correctly to succeed, but right direction matters immensely.

I was reminded about the ultimate importance of direction in life when I stood on the upper level of a large Oklahoma City mall watching my three-year-old son leaning his face into the railing overlooking the food court below. It was a safe place to be, much safer than taking him into the nearby store where my wife and daughter were shopping.

I wondered what he was thinking as he stared at all the people ordering, eating, and talking about the various things which make up the stories of our lives. I did not speculate on his thoughts exceptionally long, because he suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Follow Jesus! Follow Jesus! No turning back!”

I imagine some people choked on their sandwiches or strained their necks in search of the source of the bold declaration. It remains the best sermon I ever heard, brief and to the point.

Allow me to be brief and to the point.

DIRECTION MATTERS. FOLLOW JESUS.

Do not complicate this. God’s Dance of Love is a basic two-step: Love First. Love Most. You learn it by following Jesus’ lead. Get out the #1 Textbook and watch how Jesus loves people. Listen to Jesus’ words. Follow Him in that same direction.

If you are just loving others like everyone else in this self-centered culture does, then you are still headed in the wrong direction. Our culture is going in the wrong direction. Just because everyone else is running to jump off the cliff does not mean that you should. At least, stop and think.

That is all I ask. Do not become enamored with the cheers of the crowd or infatuated with the long lines. Stop and think! Check your spiritual bearings to see if you are following Jesus. If not, it only takes one breath and one step to turn in the right direction.

How you love God and others is about direction, not perfection.

“Follow Jesus. No turning back.” (#1 Textbook)

LOVE FOLLOWS JESUS FIRST. LOVE FOLLOWS JESUS MOST.

It all begins with right direction.

How do you follow Jesus’ example?

Learn how to sustain right direction. (next session)

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.

Love Anchor 2: Love First. Love Most. God lives inside of you to lead you to others He intends to love through you.

Love Anchor 3: Study the #1 Textbook. Love for God and love for others lasts forever. The instructions and directions are in the book.

Love Anchor 4: Direction Matters. Life is about right direction, not perfection. Course corrections take just one step.

I admire and appreciate men and women who can fix things. Their skill, ingenuity, patience, and perseverance fascinate me. However, I am most definitely not a handyman. Although that hope remains high on my wife’s prayer requests, my fix-it competence never improves. I try. I fail. I get frustrated. I reluctantly try again, just with a worse attitude.

Handymen find my ineptness to be entertaining. Any thirty-minute easy assembly ends up as a several hours project with some part missing or broken. The simple stuff becomes a belabored ordeal. When I finally finish the three-day assembly of the once in a lifetime purchase, I know how to do it in my next life. If it is possible to repair something to work worse than it did or construct something backwards, then I am the guy to call.

I once assembled a swing-set in the freezing temperature of a Christmas Eve, only to get to the final piece and discover it was intended to go in first. So, I had to disassemble the entire undertaking and redo what I had done wrong.

Redo what I did wrong. I wear it like a badge. I plead with my wife to place on my tombstone, “He meant well.” She always reminds me that women know they should first read the instructions; men do not; at least her man does not.

Much like the children’s book, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, we all have really bad days. I admit handyman failures do not really qualify for the “bad day” top ten. However, they frustrate me to ever-increasing levels of high anxiety. I understand how ridiculous that sounds to any real handyman and to every woman.

My one shining moment was planned to be sealing the ventilation leaks in our aging windows. My handyman friend told me it was a simple fix, something even I could do. Why do they say that?

He told me to go to Lowe’s and get some Great Stuff. It comes in a bright, shiny, red can whose contents form a durable, airtight, and water-resistant bond which eliminates unwanted airflow. It literally can seal anything. I can testify to its effectiveness against gaps and cracks, but it does not “fix” everything. There is nothing that can fix “stupid.”

I used the special award-winning Quick Stop straw dispenser to generously spray the insulating foam sealant around each window. If a little does good, then a lot does better. Every handyman needs his own philosophy. Well, a gentle tap on the spray trigger and the contents rushed out like Niagara Falls at flood stage. I quickly rubbed it in to tighten the seal.

Wait! Stop! I did not know Great Stuff expands once it is placed on the surface! Without warning, my windows and bricks were covered in an avalanche of this volcanic flowing cream-colored foam, like a scene out of  The Blob movie. The ever-growing, oozing substance devoured and dissolved everything in its path. Suddenly, I was aghast with visions of Great Stuff foam covering my house, yard, and neighborhood. When would it stop?

I panicked. I had to clean up the mess before anyone else might see my latest handyman fiasco. I could identify with my granddaughter that time she reluctantly confided to her mother that she and her sister sneaked into the pantry and ate the Nutella, “I was praying you would not find out and that God would just forgive me.”

Flustered and frightened, I began the cover-up. “Oh, God, help me, before anyone sees this.” I hurriedly wiped it off with my hand. It would not come off my hand, so I rubbed the growing gunk with my other hand. As I pried them apart, the crazy goo covered both hands.

I scrambled for the paper towels, Bounty, the quicker picker upper. I stubbornly stuck to my tried and true, handyman philosophy. When in doubt, use more.

The Great Stuff stuck to my hands and my hands stuck to the paper towels. I admit being impressed with the quicker picker-upper attribute which performed as advertised. However, the entire roll became stuck somewhere. My hands. The windows. The bricks. The patio. The grass. There was a paper towel stuck to the dog.

Now what? Water! Rinse it all off with water. I rushed to the backyard faucet to wash away all my problems with lots of water. I never switch philosophies in the middle of a project. More water! That did not work! White gunk stuck to my water hose as the situation worsened.

As a toddler, I had a backseat view of my dad’s concern over the sudden appearance of a police car in the rearview mirror. Dad simply muttered, “Uh oh,” which caused my mother to fear the possibility of a speeding ticket or jailtime. As I watched the speeding pursuit car with its flashing lights quickly close the distance between the vehicles, I yelled an update on the situation, “Uh Oh, worser, dad!” As Dad pulled over to the side of the interstate, he replied, “Yep, uh-oh worser!” That reaction developed into a classic family saying regarding many future problems.

My Great Stuff episode had reached “Uh Oh, worser” status. I had anticipated something really bad, but I underestimated.

As the excessive residual solidified, I racked my brain for plausible explanations to my wife of how this happened. Would she believe a claim that a cement truck backed into our house the Blob escaped the Arctic.? I could say the evening news warned of a new dangerous strain of albino mold. Where is the pandemic that forces us to isolate inside when you need it?

I picked up the bright red can and looked at the instructions, just so I could give an affirmative answer to my wife’s first question, “Did you read the directions?”

The directions clearly stated, “This product expands quickly. Start with a small amount. Keep off hands and face (I am 0 for three). Do not use water (0 for four). Let product dry before attempting removal (0 for five). If the foam has hardened, there is no solvent that will remove it. It will eventually wear off in time.” That was good news if I lived that long.

Hint to wanna-be handymen everywhere: Great Stuff expands terrifyingly and sticks tenaciously to anything, especially skin. It does not come off your hands with water because it works as a sealant to repel water. It is also an adhesive which glues paper towels to hands.

My attempt to melt the stuff off was thwarted by the ignition failure of the charcoal match lighter. I should be grateful since the directions clearly warn that this product is highly flammable (0 for six). How do you explain to 911 that you blew up your house with Great Stuff? Uh-Oh, worser!

At church the next morning, friends expressed concern over the condition of my hands. Yep, tiny pieces of paper towels remained attached to my sticky fingers. Some kids scrambled to report seeing a werewolf. Adults backed away in fear of contact with leprosy.

Whether spoken with laughter or pity, they all asked if I read the directions before I started the project. What is this world’s obsession with directions? Really?

Directions can be extremely important in this life. Some directions are for guidance to help us navigate toward our destinations, while some directions are instructional information, providing supervision of action or conduct.

Our Creator God provided us a relevant and reliable Textbook filled with both navigational directions and instructional messages. The indispensable, helpful manual sufficiently lights the way for our daily steps toward meaningful purpose and lasting happiness. Likewise, it provides true and trustworthy instructions for us, coaching us how to love God and others for maximum joy in life.

However, most people go through life without reading the instructions. Relationships get messed up. Self-help solutions fail to stop the damage. Something ends up broken or missing. So, everyone tries to hide their messed-up problems from everyone else suffering from the same messed-up problems. How? The other comparison shoppers just post better social media pictures.

What about you? Are you trying to hide a problem? Fix a relationship? Give a false impression? Have things spiraled out of control?

“Did you read the directions?” Did you read the directions? I do not intend that as some accusation or condemnation. I ask because I think it would help any of us to step back from where we struggle in some relationships and think. Am I really following the directions?

God’s Guide to Life begins with a self-introduction. God’s word and world reveal Him as our Living Lord and Loving Partner. The divine directions clearly instruct us to walk side by side with God for our greatest good. They also warn if you go through life following your own instincts, the problems will expand exponentially in difficulty and duration.

The Creator’s Great Stuff directions were never intended to be a set of rules or a list of do’s and don’ts. Instead, they describe a relationship of lordship and love which is guaranteed to stop the happiness leaks in our lives.

God authored a Relationship book, an all-time best seller and proven game-changer. Every direction is based on love, with detailed descriptions of how to love God and others as well as how not to do it. There are even directions for corrections when we did what we were not supposed to do.

From the beginning to the end of Genesis, the first historical book, God demonstrated the glory of His goodness. He proved He can give good to us out of nothing (creation) and orchestrate good for us out of wrong intentions and actions of bad people (story of Joseph).

God promises never to stop loving us…never to forsake us…never to give up on us. He creates and controls everything, even chaos and darkness, for our good so we can have lasting happiness.

When I started college, my parents presented me with a new thin-line Bible. On the inside cover, they wrote this note: “Whatever course of study you pursue, we pray this will always be your #1 Textbook.”

“I showed you a new way to live with lasting joy: Love each other. Love others in the same way and just as much as I love you….Love more and more” (#1 Textbook).

How does God love us?

(1) GOD LOVES FIRST. “I loved you before the foundation of this world” (#1 Textbook). I think that loving us before we were created qualifies as first.

(2) GOD LOVES MOST. “It will take unending ages for me to show you the immeasurable goodness of my kindness to you” (#1 Textbook). The promise of immeasurable riches of goodness throughout an infinite eternity confirms that loving most belongs to God alone.

That is dancing music. Hear those love notes again. Before time. Beyond time. Before time. Beyond time.

God calls us to love others in the same manner. “We love because He first loved us” (#1 Textbook).

LOVE FIRST. Do not wait for a response from the other person. Initiate love. Establish the tone of the relationship.

LOVE MOST. Loving others should never be limited to a finite number of actions or time. Love shows and grows in countless expressions of ever-increasing kindness. “Because of His everlasting love and kindness to you, practice that same kind of tenderhearted mercy and kindness to others” (#1 Textbook).

Somewhere along life’s journey, we decide that the problem is with the other person. That happens when we try to love without reading the directions. We cannot fix the other person. That just ends up in a bigger mess than paper towels stuck to your fingers.

We need HOPE. I am not a handyman, but I have read the Great Stuff directions. It specializes in HOPE. I have enough HOPE to share with others.

Sometimes, we make a mess of things, even when trying to fix them. Our natural instinct is to hand the directions to the other person and insist they read them. Please stop! No one else can do what I/you need to do, Love First and Love Most.

The Great Stuff directions encourage me to show God’s immeasurable, unending self-giving love to others. Love does not place blame on others and does not hide behind excuses. Love takes the initiative; it closes gaps and repairs cracks in even the most damaged relationships. “Above all, love others deeply” (#1 Textbook).

God’s Great Stuff Playbook can stop marriage leaks and fix broken relationships. It has repaired many ‘Uh, Oh, worser’ situations. Whatever situation you are in, God’s instructions will make it better. Just take a moment to step back and get a divine perspective on your relationships.

 “The key to life is to live for something that will outlast it” (William James).

This earthly life is a mere vapor, speedily passing away. However, our created purpose is to dance forever in love with the One who loved us first and most.

Whatever you choose to do with your life, follow the directions in the #1 Textbook.         Live for something that lasts forever.                                                                                    Love first. Love most.

HAVE YOU READ THE DIRECTIONS? IT IS GREAT STUFF.

OK. OK. I see the directions say, “Love First, Love Most.”   

How do I start?  (next session)                                                                                 

Follow Jesus’ example.                                                                                                                 

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.

Love Anchor 2: Love First. Love Most. God lives inside of you to lead you to others He intends to love through you.

Love Anchor 3: Use the #1 Textbook. Love for God and love for others lasts forever. The instructions and directions are in the book. Great Stuff.

The Most Important Thing in Life

CHAPTER 2   LEARN TO DANCE

My wife never knew we had a Trash Problem until the day I shared this story with several hundred people. Can you imagine her shock to hear the intimate details of a private situation of which she did not know existed until her husband publicly spilled his guts in church and social media?

In the early days of our marriage before our boys grew older, it was my responsibility to carry out the trash to the receptacle bin in our alley for the late Saturday pick-up. My usual method was to use the commercial time during my sports TV viewing to hurriedly carry out this manly assignment. Somewhere along the way, the whole process became an irritant to my soul.

It seemed that Hefty never made trash bags large enough for all our trash. At least, I was very efficient at cramming them full. Several times, I would have the bag stuffed full and closed, ready for the alley garbage bin when my precious wife would notice “one more thing” for the trash. I would suggest she throw the item into the trash basket underneath the sink, but each time, she responded it would be better for it to leave the house in the trash sack I had closed and tied in a knot.

My memory listed them in my black book of spouse irritants.

An empty coke can. A magazine. A paper plate. A Kleenex. A toothpick. Yep! A toothpick. Are you kidding me? One time, it was literally a scrap of paper, a two-inch piece of scrap paper!

Now, good counseling and even good sense would suggest it might be better to gently explain my growing agitation about how this messed up my timing to be back in my chair for the next play in the sports contest.

However, in appreciation of my wife as a wonderful mother-housekeeper and because I wanted to act as if I were a fine Christian husband, I answered not a word. I simply stared a holy hole through her.

My recollection is that nearly every time I reopened the stuffed trash bag, something would spill out, causing a mess which called for a clean-up on Aisle Three. My lips were sealed, but my blood would boil. Again, my lovely wife never suspected the degree of my aggravation. How hard can it be to carry out the trash on your day off?

My usual reaction became a rushed trek to the alley, talking to myself about the idiosyncrasies of the lady who had enough courage to marry me. One day, the Trash Problem became bigger than my Hefty ego.

I reopened the sack. Cleaned up my spilled mess. Tied up the sack. Threw open the sliding patio door. Slammed the door. Yelled and kicked at the dog. Burst through the backyard gate. Lifted the garbage bin top. Hurriedly hurled in the Hefty bag. Banged the lid down. Slammed the gate. Stared down the dog hiding in the bushes. Forcefully opened and closed the patio door. Finally, flopped into my easy chair with mutterings which did not sound like cheers for my favorite team.

It was then that I experienced one of those moments when I heard God speak to my conscience or spirit. “What is wrong?”

I pointed in the direction of the kitchen. Just in case, God could not see that far or failed to recognize the one person occupying that space. God can hear everything, so I whispered, “My wife.”

“You know, the One you gave to me. She has a problem.”

Some people wonder if God really speaks to us or how He might sound. Well, in this instance, He sounded familiarly like my mother; but I do not think God needed to borrow her notes. He was prepared and His words were unforgettable.

“She is not the problem; you are. You are selfish and impatient. You are not loving and kind to your wife.”

That hurt!

If I intended to practice what I preached, then change needed to come quickly and permanently. I was ready for the next week’s challenge. It was Saturday morning; the game was in the first quarter. The Mrs. reminded me the trash needed to go out in time for the city pick up. I sprang into action, filled the sack, smiled, and sweetly asked, “Is there any other trash?”

I was disappointed when there was no response. I closed the sack and headed for the door, a little disheartened. However, God is in the miracle business. My Girl found the lunch soup can on the counter. When she called out there was one more thing, I stopped, quietly opened the sack, dropped in the can, smiled, and kindly asked if there might be anything else.

Cleared for take-off, I closed the sack, slid open the patio door, waved at the dog hiding in the bushes, routinely opened the backyard gate, raised the lid on the garbage bin and dropped in the Hefty bag. As I gently closed the garbage container, something happened. Another miracle? A praise song unexpectedly emerged in my mind and out my lips.

I reentered the yard with strange sounds and a skip in my step. I eventually coaxed our camouflaged dog from under the bushes into my waiting arms. He wagged his tail to my humming beat. We danced together before I returned to my front row seat for the sporting event.

I have never had a Trash Problem since. In fact, after hearing my trash tale, my loving wife started saving items to throw into the basket under the sink. Sometimes we dance. Dancing in the Moonlight gets me every time.

God dances and so do all those who love God and others. Have you ever seen the Divine Dance of Love? [Note: This is not a statement of doctrine regarding the Trinity, just an illustration of the greatness, goodness, and gladness of God’s love which is beyond our understanding.]

There is one God existing in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. The Holy Trinity is a tough concept to grasp and can quickly overload our mental circuits.

The Bible highlights their interaction as a constant voluntary deferral from one Person to the other Members of the Trinity, characterized not by self-centeredness, but by mutually self-giving love and joy.

I saw this illustrated in a dance with two of my granddaughters. They begged me to swing them around, each joyfully anticipating her turn. I held both hands tightly as I began to turn in ever-faster circles, listening to the incessant laughter as each girl squealed with happiness. The dance ended with me tossing the granddaughter gently on the couch to the scream of delight.

However, the dance was only beginning. Two other arms were stretched in my direction with the desire to be the next partner in this dance of joy. Again and again, the choreographed routine brought the house down with cheers of desire and delight. My joy was increased by their joy.

What moves the Divine Dance partners in ever-increasing acts of joy? Desire and Delight. The desire and delight of ever-growing and everlasting joy. Desire is the joyful anticipation of love; delight is its joyful satisfaction.

The anticipation of desire and the participation of delight create a dance-like partnership. “Desire is love in action; delight is love at rest” (Matthew Henry).

The joy of the one loved is superseded by the joy of the giver of that love. When we delight and serve someone else, we move into a dynamic orbit around him or her, as we center on the interests and desires of the other person.

God’s Word reveals that each of the divine persons centers upon the others. None demands the others revolve around him. Each voluntarily circles the other two, pouring love, delight, and adoration upon them. The other-centered movement creates a dynamic pulsating dance of infinite joy and everlasting love.

The early leaders of the Greek church had a word for this—perichoresis which is the root of our word choreography. It means literally to “dance or flow around.”

God is love but without another person, there is no love. At His essence, God is relational. God desires and delights to dance with us. “I will always desire what is good for you…I delight in doing you good” (#1 Textbook).

Creation dances in the glory of greatness as majestic love permeates every movement. However, that greatness is most magnified in the choreography of God’s re-creation of self-centered persons into grace-full dance partners.

Loving God and loving others imitate that same Divine Dance. When we see the joy of God and others, it becomes the center of our ultimate joy.

What do we learn from the illustration of the Divine Dance we are invited to join?

LIFE IS NOT ABOUT YOU FIRST AND FOREMOST. Why? Self-centeredness never works. It only messes up relationships which creates a Trash Problem.

We are all selfish and self-centered. It is not a matter of childhood immaturity. It is in our human nature. People do what they do because they are what they are. Selfishness lives in us and we live among selfish people in a selfish culture selfishly embraced by all of mankind. As the trash overflows, the mess grows.

We are all infected with the pandemic disease of Selfishness. The virus variants plague our culture. We live among people who are difficult and different.

The only antidote is to Love First and Love Most.

However, few people look for the cure; even fewer accept it, refusing to limit personal freedom and fun for the welfare of others. Our fears, anxieties, and frustrations are highly contagious; but we feel immune to this self-sickness force which weakens and kills other relationships.

Why? We live in a Selfie world where we do not agree on the most important thing in life for us to survive the threat of self-destruction: Love first. Love most.

The opposite of love is not hate; it is selfishness which demands others orbit around us. Therefore, self-centeredness becomes the enemy to the dance of love. For most, Bon Jovi’s lyrics are descriptive, “You give love a bad name.”

Bette Midler’s self-absorbed character in Beaches borrowed a line from a skit by comedian Groucho Marx. The independent, out-spoken, CC Bloom would not stop talking about herself to friend, Hillary. At some point, she paused her lengthy treatise of self-glorification to apologize for talking so much about herself.

“Well, enough about me; let’s talk about you. What do you think about me?”

We talk about what we love. Self-centeredness is not comedic nor fascinating in the real world where everyone desires to talk about me. We are not interested in considering someone else’s views on anything, just mine.

Is that not our reason for social media fascination? Facebook, Twitter, Tik Tok, and blogs are primarily about self and selfies. Social influencers use the different venues for self-promotion. “Well, enough about me. Watch photos of me while you listen to me talk, text, and blog about my opinions about everything.”

We naturally desire for everyone else to do what we want, when we want, and the way we want in our self-centered world. We seek to use God and others to serve selfish goals.

We even sacrifice the joy and interests of others to satisfy self’s desires and delights. We mark dislike, correct, block, or trump card their post. The problem is exacerbated by our own Selfie worldview on a certain collision with everyone else’s self-serving demands.

The God of love is completely different. God gives instead of takes. He serves rather than waiting to be served. He sacrifices so others can benefit. Other-centered love creates a dance of joy, each revolving around the other to the beat of ever-increasing joy.

Sharing our love needs to become more important than sharing our opinion. How does that happen?

The Divine Dance of Love begins with a basic two step.

• Love First.  (2)  Love Most.

Copy Jesus’ example like a child with a tracing tablet. Watch how He positions others into the spotlight as He always loves first and loves most. Learn it well. Practice it often.

Never worry about missteps; you have a Perfect Partner. God’s Spirit becomes ONE with you, united in your body; you can make the dance visible to others.

God LIVES inside of you,

to LEAD you to others

He intends to LOVE through you.                                                                 (#1 Textbook)

Political debates and social protests clamor for change. What the world needs now is more love. God’s Love has power to transform people—both the one loving and the one loved.

Learn to preach to yourself in every situation: This circumstance is NOT about me. This moment is about loving them. Be kind, tenderhearted, forgiving just as Jesus has loved you.

Choreograph your love at home. Position the other person in the middle of your love circle. Practice, practice, practice. Together, we can give love a good name.

Love First. Love Most.

Trash problems will be resolved.

How do you Love First and Love Most?

Follow the directions. (next session)

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.

Love Anchor 2: Love First. Love Most. God lives inside of you to lead you to others He intends to love through you.

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.  

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.

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,

But there is no joy in Mudville—mighty Casey has struck out.   

(“Casey at the Bat” by Ernest Lawrence Thayer)

     HE FORGOT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING!

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? Faith? Family? Friends? Freedom? Fun?

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? 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.  

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus your own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.