Today is November 11, 2015. Two
years ago on this date, the second Hunger Games premiered in the UK. Even more
importantly, on this date ninety-seven years ago World War I ended.
Ninety-seven years ago, the scourge of human carnage known as WWI came to an
end. According to some sources, the terrible crisis claimed more than
sixty-five million lives. Today,
World War I often is less known by the average American then WWII or Vietnam. Yet
though many don’t remember or recall the facts or figures, the reality is that
WWI still claimed more than sixty-five
million lives. That is sixty-five million souls we can never recover.
But the most astonishing part of it
for me is the fact that ninety-seven years can seemingly erase the relevance of
such a monumental event in human history. Time, truly is fleeting. So fleeting
that ninety-seven years after the absolute charring of most of the globe, many
people are largely unaware of even the most basic facts that truly dismantle
the lives & livelihood of so many across the globe.
The point of realizing all this is
to assert a very sobering reality: The human experience is fleeting &
finite. Even more humbling than that thought, is the fact that our individual
experiences remain virtually non-existent to much of the world & history.
Proof of this is the fact that we must study WWI to truly allow the lives of
those involved to impact us today.
Another example of this truth is
found about three miles from my house. The Nixon Library commemorates the
birthplace & life of Richard Nixon. I often ride my bike to it. Every time
I do, I ride my bike within ten feet of his once private & exclusive
helicopter. Every time, I am struck with an incredible sense of awe &
wonder.
What was once the most elegant
chariot for the leader of the New World is now a piece of rubble charged with a
$12 admittance. Short lived huh? Even more so for Nixon considering Watergate,
but I wonder if the most powerful men & women realize in their moments in
the sun that their influence has already, in many ways, been stripped from
their clutches.
Perhaps this is what Matthew 6:19 is
getting at when it warns us not to store up in our hearts treasures of this
earth, for they rust & destroy. Scriptures are endless in their warning of
the fleeting pleasure of the world. After all, it wasn’t even a complete
lifetime ago that Mr. Richard Nixon was leading the American crusade against
communism & shaping the new world as he saw fit. Now, he is in many ways an
outcast to most American minds that judge its leaders.
So each time I ride by Nixon’s
helicopter I wonder about what truly matters. Is it your elegant chariot or
perhaps your home? I know for myself I want the answer to be no. The most
important things for me are those unseen. I want to love, be generous, be
courageous, & be compassionate. Simply put, I’d rather take time investing
in my humanity then my worldly status or prestige because the reality is that
at some point, we will all die.
So the next time I ride my bike past
fleeting memories, I will continue to marvel at the graveyard of of outdated
chariots. That which is fit for a king sooner or later becomes recreation for
the common man. Therefore, I choose to invest in that which does not rust or
destroy & that which has inherent value: my humanity. It is as Genesis 3:19
so vividly reminds us of: “By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food
until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are
and to dust you will return.”
-MGB
-MGB
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