Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label life. Show all posts

Thursday, August 5, 2010

A Lesson from Mary Poppins



Last evening, Billie and I had an extraordinary evening with Courtney and Judy in Washington DC. Beginning with a dinner that surpassed even our wildest expectations and then to the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts to watch the stage production of Mary Poppins.

A scene in Act 1 of Mary Poppins happened so quickly, it was very easy to miss it. Yet it stuck with me and I thought about it even after arriving home.

In the scene, a gentleman gave each of the two children a "six-pence." The young man proudly stated that he knew what it was worth. The response of the gentleman is the power statement. He stated and I am paraphrasing, "You may think you know the worth, but you will not know the value until you spend it."

I am not sure that I heard anything after that statement for the next few minutes.

That is a statement we need to remember in life about ourselves and others.

God has given each of us time, talents and treasures. The world tries to put a price on them. The world tries to tell us what each of them are worth. But, what is the true value?

Each day has a worth. Yet, how different we feel about the value of the day based on what we have done or more importantly, what we have given of our day to others.

The worth of $50 is $50. Yet to the person who has much, $50 does not have much value. However to the person who has little or nothing, $50 may seem like a fortune.

Giving an hour of your day to a person whose life seems to be coming apart may have greater value than a day doing something else.

I finished the night thinking about my life. It is not a question of what my life is worth. I think my life is worth Christ dying on a cross for me. But what will the value of my life be when I am all done? That will be determined by how I decide to spend every moment God gives me.

Each of us need to ask ourselves - not what is our life worth, but what will the value of our life be?

You may think you know what your life is worth, but you will not know the value until you spend it. Spend your life wisely.

Friday, August 1, 2008

No it is Not a Mid-life Crisis



No it is not a mid-life crisis as many would think. I am 60 and had that 25 to 30 years ago. Actually the driving force has been my wife. For the last 18 months she has been saying that we need a bike. Then in the last 4 months she has really taken it up a notch. Hardly a day would go by without her saying something about getting a bike. She said the idea of her and I just getting away on the afternoon or weekend without cell phones, radios or whatever was pretty apealling to her. Well it happened. Last week she and I went to my Admin's house to pick up a refridgerator and in the garage was her husband, Dan's "extra" bike. It took me a few minutes and a quick ride to get excited. All during this time and the next day all Billie would say is you need to get that bike. So now we own a motorcycle and it is amazing.

Yes I wear a helmet.

No I am not worried about growing old.

Yes I have life insurance and insurance on the bike.

No many people do not understand ( or maybe even want to understand)

Yes I have had other bikes (even though the last one was about 26 years ago.)

No I am not growing my hair for a ponytail or getting a tattoo.

Yes it is therapy for me.