Hey everybody, it's been awhile since I have written anything on a blog, so I hope you'll take it easy on me. :)
I've been thinking a lot about life lately, since I'm about to turn 50 this coming Sunday. And what's been going through my mind has to do with changes, choices, and decisions that I have made and am making during the course of my earthly existence.
It may come as a surprise to some of you that one of the sources I have been getting some wisdom from recently is very popular on the Disney channel. I'm speaking of a young woman by the name of Miley Cyrus (aka Hannah Montana). I, like some people, often have the TV on for noise while I'm surfing the Web or doing something, just so I have background noise. Well, the TV happened to be on the Disney channel, because I was doing something else, wanted some noise on, and wanted it on a station where I probably wouldn't be paying too much attention to what was on. Then, on came this sitcom, known to many young ladies as Hannah Montana. When the theme song, Best of Both Worlds, started to play, my ears perked up with interest. This young lady has a greatly gifted voice for music. The concept of the show was interesting; a young lady in high school who just wants to be herself, but she also happens to be really talented with music (and her dad seems to be the one who got her involved in it), so... in order to be herself when she's off-stage, her on-stage persona unknowing to the crowd wears a blonde wig and goes by the name of Hannah Montana and has become a big pop star. If you look at the price of tickets at Hannah Montana concerts and how popular she is with the young ladies today, it's easy to see that Disney knew what they were doing when they hired Miley Cyrus (daughter of Country singer Billy Ray Cyrus) to play the lead as Hannah Montana.
Anyway, I got hooked on the show because of her musical talent, because I liked the character of the father on the show (played by Billy Ray Cyrus), and got a real laugh out of Hannah's friends and especially her brother on the show (played by Jason Earles). Hannah's brother is hilarious, and so is a suave young character named Rico (played by ), who always seems to be getting Hannah's brother into trouble.
I tend to be a somewhat overly depressed person, and have to take medication to stay on an even keel, so I found Miley's music to be very uplifting. In the song "Life's what you make it" she talks about not being down on yourself and choosing to celebrate life instead. In "Nobody's Perfect" she talks about just that, and how we all blow it and have to work at doing better, and not to be too critical of ourselves for screwing up. There are many other songs, and many of them are more of an entertaining nature, but these two stand out as ones that have help lift of my spirits lately.
Being a Christian, I want to improve myself so that I might better be pleasing to God. I have trouble measuring up to my own high standards, let alone trying to measure up to God's standards, which are perfection. However, with careful reading of the Bible, you learn that although God wants people to be perfect, it's a lifelong journey to get to that goal, and just about nobody can reach that goal here on Earth. Only one person was ever perfect and that was Jesus, who also happens to be God. Because Jesus took all of our sins upon Himself as He died on the cross in our place, when God the Father looks upon us He sees the perfection of Jesus instead of our blunders and messes we have a tendency to make, sometimes on a daily basis.
Because of my strong Christian faith and my inward musings on Life and my part in it, I began to question again, "Why am I here?" I don't seem to contribute much to this world and the people in it (at least not that I can tell), and I certainly am about as far from perfect as anyone is likely to get (with the possible exception of Barrack Obama, if you happen to listen to Shawn Hannity and Rush Limbaugh).
Personally, with the limited happiness I've had in my life, I'm ready for eternity now, and would rather not wait for old age, some illness, or accident to do me in. I want to go to Heaven now, to be perfect Now! But.... since that's not likely going to be one of the prayers that God answers (and no, I don't condone suicide. I believe for some people it is a mortal sin), since God has a tendency to do things the opposite way we are naturally inclined to think.... I had better get used to being around a very long time.
Note: a word of advice to people under 30.... enjoy your Life while you are still young. I don't mean that you should overindulge in drinking, partying, or anything... just that you should enjoy Life, enjoy your strength, enjoy how your body feels now..... because once you near 50 you will start feeling middle-age, you will start feeling your body breaking down and wearing out, dying all around you (unless you happen to be a fan of physical fitness). Believe me, it is not a pleasant sensation knowing you have a lot less time to live than you once thought you had. Getting older really sucks.
So.... what is life all about?
I can only give you my personal perspective, and since I am devoted to being a child of God (a Christian, in Truth, not in name only).... I can only give a spiritual answer in response to the question:
Life is about getting to know the God who created us, and with whom we are going to spend all of eternity. Every human being ever conceived, from the tragically miscarried embryo or aborted fetus, to the oldest person who ever lived... every one of us is made to exist forever, somewhere. We may not exist in the bodies we have now, as they are temporary and breakdown, and eventually die from one cause or another. But the conscience within us, the Real us, goes on into eternity to live forever, either with God, or away from God (depending on the choice we make, or do not make, in this life concerning our relationship with Jesus). Someday we will all meet Him, either as our Savior, or as our Judge. The choice is up to us.
For the Christian, Life is about getting to know Him more and more, and become more like Him as we progress through our earthly lives. When we meet Him face to face, either at the time of our death or when He personally returns to catch away all Real Christians in a moment of time, He will cause us to become perfect, like He is, in a moment, and we will then be perfect for all of eternity.
The real revelation in all of this, for the Christian anyway, is that our Eternal Life, which Jesus purchased for us on the cross and provided for us by rising from the dead on the third day, is that......
Eternity begins right now! Not when you die or when Jesus returns. God already sees His Christian children as perfect, for we will indeed be perfect someday, and for a much longer period than we have been imperfect. So, for us, Eternal Life begins here and now, not at some time in the future after we have put these earthly bodies aside. We will live forever in the most beautiful place ever created, and with the God who is Love. Our relationship with Him goes on for all Eternity, and we have already begun our Eternal Life. Let's stop getting down on ourselves and being so conscious of our sins. Let's celebrate the Life He has given us, love Him, choose to love other people (even those who are unloveable), and celebrate the fact that we will live forever. Amen!
Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus.
