As I sit here on this Mother’s Day (evening), I am not spending time with my mother, my wife or anyone else in my family. I just returned home from my office in which I have spent the last several hours studying for my Greek 2 final examination. I plan on spending the next few hours studying as well as tomorrow morning.
Yesterday we celebrated the joy of Adrienne’s graduation. She is done with her schooling and can now begin the job that she has prepared for. As I looked around the room yesterday at my friends, they are all done as well. Life is much more simple when you do not have to work and go to school and…etc.
So this brings me to why I am writing. Is getting a B instead of a C in NT Greek really going to matter when I am standing at the Pearly Gates? Are the expectations and aspirations I have for myself too much? Have I believed this lie that in order to get a “bigger and better” job you must be more “qualified”?
Certainly I am not suggesting that school is unimportant. I’m also not saying that I shouldn’t set high standards for myself. I guess what I am asking is at what cost? Would it be nice to have some letters behind my name? Of course it would! But if the accomplishment in and of itself is the end goal then it’s not worth it.
I would love to teach future ministers at the college level after a long career in ministry. In order to do that not only a MDiv is required but in most cases at PhD.
So, where’s the balance? Most people are on one side or the other. Either people are so busy and concerned with “success” they have no time for “fun” or people just sit around and don’t do anything with their lives. We, I, need to learn the balance that so few people have been able to master.
I have no resolution for this except that this is something I am going to continue to think through and pray about. I want to leave this world a better place when I go but not at the expense of truly enjoying my life.
What do you think?
I struggle with this myself and I also don't have many answers. One of the root problems I have found is that our society sees "fun" things like relationships, art (this includes cuisine) symbolic action, etc. as the frilly stuff that is dispensable. The valuable bits of life are what earn a profit or advance something tangibly. But serving Jesus means being fully human, and that means embracing all of life. As I try to evaluate my priotities I have to retrain my brain to see those frilly parts as equally, and often more, valuable than the busier, more "productive" parts.
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