大象传媒

Good morning.听 In her lovely poem 鈥楾he Summer Day鈥�, Mary Oliver describes spending a day watching a grasshopper and strolling through the fields. She concludes with a challenge:

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'Tell me, what else should I have done?听Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do听with your one wild and precious life?'

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Planning how to spend our lives can take up much of our time. Making good investments; saving and making plans is wise but, as we are all too aware, we live in uncertain times. Nobody knows what the future holds. Our one wild and precious life is short.

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I love how the stories Jesus told got to the heart of the human condition. In one such parable, he describes a man whose fields produced a good harvest. With nowhere to store his bumper yield, the man decided to tear down his barns and build bigger ones. Once he had stored all his goods and crops, he said to himself that he could take it easy for the rest of his days: eating, drinking and being merry.听 At this point, the story takes a turn. Jesus continues:

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But God said to him, 鈥淵ou fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?鈥� This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich towards God.鈥�

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We only have one wild and precious life. Better to spend it appreciating grasshoppers when we get the chance than worrying too much about what tomorrow might hold and storing up possessions that cannot comfort us.

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Father, Give us courage to live well. Teach us how to be rich towards you and forgive us our greed. Give us peace when we worry about what tomorrow holds.听 Amen.