A VETTE’ OR A HUMMINGBIRD?
It seems appropriate that a person’s priorities change with time. The things that are critical to a person of high school age are dramatically different to a person who’s been there and done that.
It seems even more appropriate to the parents who have children that have gone through that process either currently or in the past.
The maturation process is different for everyone. In a few rare cases, we’ve all witnessed the person who refuses to mature.
If someone would have asked me up until my late thirties, “Which brings you more joy, a Corvette or a hummingbird”? I wouldn’t have hesitated. My answer to this hypothetical question would have probably been something like, “Are you serious”?
When a person answers a question with a question you know there is a sarcastic explanation forthcoming.
I might have rambled on about strength and probably horsepower. You know the words when used a blind person could guess accurately the age of the speaker, by the lack of wisdom in the statement.
The more seasons of this life we are gifted to participate in, the more appreciation for the wonder of each one of them we gain.
If you hang around long enough you’re going to see that Vette wear out and become obsolete. Pretty soon, the thing of prestige and pride ends up on blocks in a driveway or in a junkyard.
In that tree above the worn out muscle car, you might find a hummingbird.
The car might still be of some use even in this condition. It might remind us of how fleeting our life has been. The hummingbird, however, will remind us of how precious life is.
It is my opinion that when we get so focused on a specific goal or task, we miss everything of value that surrounds us.
It’s almost like our enemy has the watch swinging back and forth, from side to side, in front of our face. Subconsciously he’s saying to us, “Your getting sleepy, sleepy, sleepy.”
Soon we’re in the hypnotic trance and he controls us in every aspect of our life. Allowing us to see what he wants our priorities to be, not God’s.
How silly must we look being controlled by something or someone who has different values than we espouse?
The good news for me has been, as I get older I’m a little more difficult to hypnotize. While I love the enchanting aroma of a new car’s interior, (this might be a guy thing) I know by experience it’s short lived.
In contrast, the smell of orange blossoms happen bi-yearly where I live. The color of my red Hibiscus blooms on the bushes in my yard, renew themselves daily during season. The red paint on a new car is beginning to fade the day it’s shot.
The things done by our hands, while sometimes grand, pale in comparison to the creation of life.
I think one of the indicators in our lives that we’re maturing and our priorities are changing is when we aren’t the priority anymore.
I find people in life who are still the center of their universe, are the least mature and happy.
In the journey across our lives in search of maturity or wisdom the adage, “Less is More” takes on a more complete meaning. The less we see in ourselves the more value we really have. This can only be measured in the heart of each of us and only by God and ourselves.
Jesus Christ summed it up like this, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
It is acceptable for very young children to act without the wisdom of this verse in their lives. The rest of us? Not so much…
Which brings more joy, a strong mature tree, or owning the dirt it grows in?