I thought I’d share with you what I was honored to share with the Christian camping leaders I’ve been meeting with this week. This was Tuesday morning’s devotion.
Imagine you are in the bleachers ready to watch the 4 X 100 meter men’s relay. The runners warm up and then take their places. The gun goes off and they begin the race. From your vantage point you are able to see the entire track. You’re fortunate enough to have the perspective of the whole race from start to finish.
But the runners perspective is different.
They don’t worry about the whole 400 meter race. They only focus on the leg they are meant to run. They’re only responsibility is the 100 meter leg they’ve been assigned. They must get the baton from point A to point B. That’s it.
You are that runner. In your life, you’ve not been assigned to run the whole race. You only have a leg to run.
I like the quote from Reinhold Niebuhr; “Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith. Nothing we do however virtuous can be accomplished alone; therefore we must be saved by love.”
Again…”Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime…”
When you take the long view…it’s not about what you can accomplish in your lifetime. It’s about the legacy you leave to those who will follow. Sure…I’ve had unrealized dreams in my life. But I’m trying to come to grips with the fact that just because I’m not seeing the realization of the dream doesn’t mean my kids or their kids won’t see it.
I’m just here to do my part. To take the baton from point A to point B.
I want to do for those who come after me what was done for me. In so many ways I sit in the shade of a tree I did not plant. I eat the fruit from fields I did not sow. I’m so fortunate because of those who have gone before me and prepared the way. And now it’s up to me, not to finish, but to prepare the way for those who will come after me.
Are you willing to do your part; to run your leg?
I like what Whitman said, “Answer; that you are here-that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on, and you will contribute a verse.
You are simply here to contribute a verse.
Take the long view. Leave a valuable legacy.
Well said