The other day I came across the following list of rules for members of the
Coronary and Ulcer Club:
1) Your job comes first. Forget everything else.
2) Saturdays, Sundays and holidays are fine times to be working in the
office. Nobody else will be there to bother you.
3) Always have your briefcase with you when not at your desk. This provides
an opportunity to review completely all the troubles and worries of the day.
4) Never say "no" to a request. Always say "yes."
5) Accept all invitations to meetings, banquets, committees, etc.
6) All forms of recreation are a waste of time.
7) Never delegate responsibility to others; carry the entire load yourself.
8) If your work calls for traveling, work all day and travel at night to
keep that appointment you made for eight the next morning.
9) No matter how many jobs you already are doing remember you can always
take on more.
When one are of life, like work, takes on too much importance, our lives get
out of balance, and soon we begin to drop the other important balls in our
lives and lose out on a full, maximized life.
In our Bible reading for today Jesus shares with us some thoughts on how we
can reduce stress and burnout in our lives by bringing balance back to them.
He gives us some insights into how to set the right priorities in life so
that we can integrate our lives for maximum living. He says: "Love the Lord
you God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And love others as
much as you love yourself."
For Jesus, the starting point for an integrated life is a relationship with
God. He knows that we live our lives on the basis of what our core priority
is. In other words, whatever is most important to us sets the agenda for
our lives. So Jesus wants to make sure that our lives are centered on a
priority that leads to balance, wholeness, and fulfillment.
The truth is that most of us find our lives get out of balance because we're
trying to fill our lives with meaning. So to fill the void, we pour
ourselves into our careers, or volunteer work, or our bodies, or even
chemicals and alcohol. And because none of them can fill the deep-seated
need for meaning, we become over-preoccupied by that one thing in life, and
end up feeling emptier.
Jesus knows that only God can fill the meaning void. For he is the author
and source of life. Without him life is empty. It has no real vision or
purpose. God makes sense out of life. He ennobles our purpose. He reminds
us that we have value and worth. He is the energy for living. That's why
Jesus encourages us to make God the center of our lives. For God gives life
balance.
Someone once likened life to wick placed in oil. When the oil runs out the
wick burns up. But as long as there is oil, the wick doesn't even burn.
Many of us try to fill the emptiness with oils that run dry, leaving us prey
to burnout. But God is an oil that never runs out. And when he is our
source of life, we can stay fired up without burning out.
So when we make God our priority, when we embrace him with our entire being
by welcoming Jesus to come and take charge of our lives, we are well on the
road to a balanced, integrated life. For Jesus helps us to keep our
perspective. When life is focused through him he helps us make the kinds of
decisions that lead to wholeness. A relationship with God through Jesus is
the starting point for a balanced life.
The next priority for a balanced life is to love ourselves. By this Jesus
doesn't mean an unhealthy preoccupation with ourselves at the expense of
others. Rather, Jesus means to love ourselves as God loves us, to see the
value in our lives that God sees. For unless we can love and value
ourselves, we can't love and value others.
So it's important for us to do those things that keep us healthy and feeling
positive about ourselves--things that enhance our sense of value so that we
can take seriously the next priority which is to love others as we love
ourselves--to give adequate attention to our relationships with family and
friends.
You see, when one area of life, like the job or the kids, gets too much
attention, the other areas suffer. So Jesus encourages us to order our
lives around priorities that bring wholeness and balance--to start with God,
then move to ourselves so that we can enjoy others. Everything else flows
from there for those are the priorities that lead to an integrated life.
Someone once explained it this way:
Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air.
You name them--work, family, health, friends, and faith and you're keeping
all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber
ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back.
But the other four balls--family, health, friends, and faith--are made of
glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked,
nicked, damaged, or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must
understand that and strive for balance in your life.
God created us to live life with balance--for it's an integrated life that
leads to maximized living. And the starting point for that balance is Jesus
Christ. When he captures every area of our being, when he becomes our core
priority, when he is the focus, the rest of life lines up and falls into
place. He enables us to keep all of the balls safely in the air, and
reduces the stress in the process.
Architect Frank Lloyd Wright once told of an incident in his life which at
the time seemed insignificant, but which later had a profound impact on his
life. He was 9 years old at the time and was walking across a snow-covered
field with his reserved, no-nonsense uncle.
As the two of them reached the far end of the field, his uncle stopped him.
He pointed out his own tracks in the snow--tracks that ran straight as an
arrow's flight. He then pointed to young Frank's tracks. They meandered
all over the field.
His uncle said to him, "Notice how your tracks wander aimlessly from the
fence to the cattle to the woods and back again. And see how my tracks aim
directly to my goal. There is an important lesson in that."
Years later Frank Lloyd Wright said that that moment helped shape his
philosophy of life. He said, "I determined right then not to miss most
things in life, as my uncle had."
In other words, Frank Lloyd Wright was committed to living a balanced
life--no one area, like work, would take more than its fair share of his
time, less he miss out on all of the other wonderful areas of his life.
I invite you to make the same kind of decision. I encourage you to set the
right priorities in life by welcoming Jesus into your life with all your
heart, soul, mind, and strength. And as you do, you'll discover the joy of
a maximized, integrated life.
AMEN
