The New Story of You
Pentecost 2022.07.16
One month ago today friends gathered to share a meal and fellowship. They invited everyone and a man answered the invitation. He was not a stranger but neither was he a close friend. While others brought their favorite casserole or dessert, he brought some shrimp and a six-pack of beer. He sat quietly but when asked if he needed anything or would like some more food, it became apparent he had also brought something else. In response to the question, the man pulled out a handgun and shot three of those gathered at his table. In seconds this man rewrote the history of those who died as well as those present, their friends and families, and an entire community who will feel their absence.
Today, as it was thirty days ago, history will be written. Indeed history is written every day but on this day new myths will be created. Today we will not spend time in rehashing old living. Today is for living the here and now. It is, after all, the only door to the future. Bold words, huh? Perhaps they are also a little bit scary. Tomorrow we will return to the legends we read about online or hear about in the news but today, today is for the legend of you, the story that you yourself will write.
The ancient Greeks lived with their gods and goddesses. They did not keep them on some high mountain, objects to be worshipped only. Their deities often posed as humans or animals. They interacted with mankind and mankind interacted with them. Their names became common words, not whispered only in hallowed halls. This interaction gave them life and gave their stories heartbeats that continue to be heard today, pulses that keep the myths alive.
Today is a blank canvass. Your story is yours to write. Interact with the world and live. Be the hero or heroine of your own wonderful, magical myth, the story of you today. How do you start? Share a smile. Give a hug. Hold the door open for someone, not just the elderly or the infirmed. “One of the secrets in life is that all that is really worth doing is what we do for others.” Lewis Carroll knew that each day we fall down the rabbit hole called life. He became the legend known as the author of many poems and the children’s classic, “Alice in Wonderland”. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, famously penned: “I can’t go back to yesterday because I was a different person then.” He was born Charles Dodgson; now he lives on being known as Lewis Carroll.
“Insist on yourself; never imitate. Your own gift you can present every moment with the cumulative force of a whole life’s cultivation; but of the adopted talent of another you have only an extemporaneous half possession. That which each can do best, none but his Maker can teach him.” Ralph Waldo Emerson knew the value of the individual.
I did not know the man charged with the murder of three people at a fellowship meal thirty days ago but I did not the three who died. I also know their story – a story of living what they believed, a story of devotion to family and community, lives full of laughter and service.
Today you will write your own story. Maybe one day we will read it; maybe not. What matters is that you live the life you want in a way that others will remember you as you would like to be remembered. This is your day to become what you desire. Tomorrow is never guaranteed but today, today is for living and the writing of the story of you.
n2myhead 