I heard a sermon today that quoted a scene from a play called “Our Town” by Thornton Wilder. In that play, one of the characters, Emily, gives birth to her second child but then passes away after childbirth. The character lives on with other dead neighbors from the town and they can see their family and friends back in the real world, however they can’t interact with them. She gets advice to forget about her former life because reviewing her past or keeping up with the future will be too painful. Apparently, Emily somehow breaks the rules and has the opportunity to go back in time to relive one day, and only one day, of her life. How would you choose? She chooses her 12th birthday party and goes back to Earth to relive that special day… only to be disappointed that her friends and family did not cherish the small special moments more than they did.
What are those small special moments where your heart comes alive?
If you could choose a best day to re-live from start to finish, even if you were allowed to choose one day from each major season of your life … what criteria would you use to choose “this was the best days of my life” … what are the elements that make up “the best of the best” in your memories? That then begs the question: what even is “living life to the fullest?”
Often our stomachs, our thirsts, our other desires and basic needs answer that question for us with a very loud voice. DOMINO’S PIZZA …. MILLER LITE … A FIRST DATE … YOUR FIRST SEXUAL PARTNER… GRADUATING COLLEGE … SKIING THE SLOPES … GOING TO AN NFL GAME … HOW ABOUT THAT CRUISE …
These are what many of us might choose if we were to plan out one of our best days. Getting the good stuff out of life often looks like unlimited food & drink on a private beach in the Caribbean, if we aren’t thinking too hard.
If you could choose a best day to re-live from start to finish … what criteria would you use to choose “this was the best days of my life” … what are the elements that make up “the best of the best” in your memories?
But life is more than those fleeting moments of pleasure and indulgence. We all know this, even if we don’t always act accordingly. It’s not always easy to put into words, but real life is usually about being part of a meaningful story where you had to work hard for something, something miraculous or beautiful occurred, or you faced a challenge or conflict that you eventually overcame.
Here are a few thoughts from me:
- Finally getting up the courage at the middle school mixer to walk across the empty dance floor and ask a crush to dance
- The day I finished my Eagle scout project and turned in my final application at the troop meeting and getting the handshake from the scoutmaster that meant, congratulations, you reached the end, it’s all over and Eagle is yours.
- The night in 9th grade that my punk rock band (all two years older than me) had our first gig at Twister’s bar at downtown VCU and we piled all instruments and five dudes in a Taurus to head downtown to see if we were were good enough to entertain the city of Richmond.
- The day I moved to the UK and packed my little life on a plane, arriving at my new boarding school as a 23 year old new teacher without knowing a soul, meeting students and teachers from all over the world; eager to make a good impression
- The day I performed “Message in a bottle” by the Police on guitar with a backup band at the school talent show, much to the surprise of 1200 students, proving I could actually cary a tune
- The day one of my best friends arrived by plane to visit me in East Africa and we rented a Matatu (10 passenger van) for some locals / missionary friends and us to go visit a famous game park to see animals in the Savannah but ultimately got in trouble driving through a forbidden area
- The final day of being a summer camp counselor where, after we send the kids home, we all stayed up til 2am eating candy, writing notes, jumping in the lake by night, making peace and saying goodbye to close friends, coworkers and our summer crushes … wondering what the future would hold.
- Proposing to my soon to be wife via jumping out of a propeller plane and landing in a field by parachute … and not being able to remember my speech due to all of the adrenaline.
- Visiting the grave of my grandfather as our family had to come together one more time to bury my grandmother next to him in the farm fields of Mississippi … and I shared my dream with my family.