Walking the path

(3-minute read)

Once a month, we have a celebration at our house for a dozen or so family and friends who have had a birthday that month. After lunch, there is the traditional singing of Happy Birthday, in which everyone sings to their own tune using their own words for a couple of minutes of total off-key chaos. I’m sure those who have had birthdays hate it, and it sounds terrible, but valued traditions must be maintained.

I sometimes get lost in the conversation since most of the crowd is 18 to 26. On one occasion, they discussed favorite singers and musicians; I didn’t know a single one. The names of the singer Dean Martin and jazz pianist Dave Brubeck never came up, possibly because everyone knows they’re great.

The subject of these conversations changes rapidly. They started talking about someone, and I didn’t recognize the name and wasn’t sure what the topic of the discussion was. It all escalated rapidly, with one person talking over another. They all began laughing, and it grew to the point that some had difficulty saying what they wanted to because they couldn’t stop laughing. There was no break in the conversation or the laughter. I had no clue what they were laughing about. They all seemed to personally know these people; I had never heard of them, but this wasn’t unusual in our conversations. They were having so much fun that I didn’t want to kill the mood by interrupting them with questions such as, “What are we talking about?”

This went on for possibly 5 minutes. I looked over at my son Stephen, who must have seen the puzzled look on my face, and he said, “They’re talking about a role-playing video game.” Although I had never played one of those, once I understood, it was fascinating to listen to them. They spoke of this game like one speaks of a foreign country they once lived in. They were so comfortable with the world’s rules, beliefs, and customs. Although they spoke of it as if it were real life, there was no question that they completely understood the difference between what was a game and what was real life.

I couldn’t help but think of two coexisting worlds of the game and real life and compare that with our life on earth and the Kingdom of God. Which of those last two is real life? One is temporary, with a life expectancy of less than 100; when it ends, your accomplishments in life become a memory that will fade over time; if they’re not of value in the Kingdom of God, they will be meaningless to us personally.

My life was pretty normal until, at age 25, I was asked if I wanted to accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior. With that, the adventures began. The adventures have varied from traveling to a village in one country where, previously, all white men entering the village had been killed to being arrested for smuggling in another country. At home, the Lord always let me know he was with me when I struggled with the results of PTSD or faced life-threatening medical issues. The Lord has been building me into somebody he could live with forever, and like everyone else, the Lord gives me just what I need. Some may think I’m an absolute mess now, but they should have seen what God started with. Following the Lord is more fun than any game.