Today's readings are.....a little interesting.
Theme: life in the fast lane
Initial ideas: other than an Eagles record playing in my head, this poses a lot of interesting concepts. Maybe something with racing? Meh. I don't really know what it's like to live that life - but maybe that's where we can have some fun....what about rejecting that life.....on purpose???? Hmmmm.....
There’s
that old saying, “life in the fast lane,” and people usually use it to refer to
the jet-set crowd – those people who are always on the go, making money, and
living the most extraordinary lives. I
used to be one of those people. I made
my millions and rode in private jets, attended the fundraiser dinners at a
thousand dollars a plate, and all those wonderful things that people with means
are supposed to do because they can.
That was before I understood just how much it didn’t matter.
It
wasn’t easy to get there. I was born to
privilege, and so when it came to understanding what it was really like out
here, I really didn’t know. I’d been
sheltered from a lot of the dirty, gritty things that invaded most peoples’
lives, and I didn’t understand them. I
didn’t understand crime, or need. I
didn’t even understand want, but I thought I did. I thought it meant that you wanted something,
so you went out and bought it, or saved your pennies for it. No, I was moving too fast through life to understand
anything at all of what it truly was.
So what
changed? How did I come to this
realization of who I was and what I’d been missing? I know what you’re thinking – It must have been some life-altering
experience. In a way, you’d be
right, but it’s not like this was some mugging or some other tragic event in my
life. In fact, it hardly involves me at
all. My company, or rather, a few
individuals who worked for my company, were the ones involved.
I got
the call while I was over the pacific in my plane.
“Hello?”
“Hello,
Mr. Licthon?”
“Yes,
this is he. Who may ask is calling?”
“I’m
sorry to trouble you, sir. My name is
Lieutenant Barry Colton, I’m with the San Francisco police Department.”
“What
can I do for you, Lieutenant?”
“Sir,
we’ve had a bit of a problem with one of your shipping containers down at the
docks.”
“Is all
our paperwork in order?”
“Well,
that depends on what you mean by that, sir.”
“Why
don’t you just tell me what the problem is?”
“It’s
very delicate, sir, but –“
“Lieutenant, I don’t mean to be a bore, but delicate or not, you can
talk about it with me.”
“Yes,
sir.” He paused. “We found some strange cargo in one of your
containers. It – it was full of people,
sir.”
“People?”
“Yes
sir. There’s, ummmm, more, sir.”
“I’m
listening, Lieutenant.”
“They
were dead, sir.”
Now it
was my turn to pause.
“How
many people are we talking about?”
“Thirty-seven, sir. All of them
were young females.”
“I’m in
the air right now, Lieutenant. I’ll have
the pilot turn us around. I’ll be there
in a few hours. Check in with my
secretary, and please know that you will have the fullest cooperation from me
and my company.”
“Thank
you, sir.”
“It
might be easiest if you met me at the airport, Lieutenant.”
“As you
wish, sir. And thank you very much for
your cooperation.”
I hung
up and had the pilot turn around, before I proceeded to start calling around.
I
should explain myself, here. I am the
President of Licthon Global Enterprises, a major player in the trans-pacific
shipping game. And my company was now in
trouble.
Theme: Write your own eulogy.
Initial thoughts: I wanted to do this a couple weeks ago. I even sat down and tried. Wow - it's a TON harder than it looks. So I've been thinking about it of and on. What it ended with isn't at all how I envisioned it, but I think it's a pretty fair offering, if tough to read (and write).
I’m sure
that I had some words of parting to you all.
What I said, though, probably isn’t very noteworthy. I imagine it was something like, “I want
cottage cheese” or something, and those just happened to be the last words
between you and I. Incidentally, I
really liked the cottage cheese.
It’s a
funny thing, when you think of the measure of a man, what he’s really worth,
etc., and the impact of each of us on the various people we’ve met in our
lives. I remember the priest who said
the funeral Mass for my grandparents, who said something to the effect of,
“When you come into this world, you cry, and everyone rejoices. If you do it right, when you leave, you’re
rejoicing, and everyone else cries.” I
would like to think the streets are full of people crying now, it’s been
declared a national day of mourning, and that I am having a really spectacular
party in the ethereal plane. What? Am I not allowed one delusion of grandeur?
Very
likely, what’s happening is that there are a comfortable number of people
listening to this who, in some way, will be affected by my absence. What does one say to each of you? How can I convey in a few words, all that is
written in my heart to each of you? At
long last, you’ve finally found me, the guy with a ready quip, at a loss for
words. I simply cannot sum up my life in
just a few sentences. There is no poem,
song, or prose that can accomplish this.
There is only a list of the basic few rules:
1) Embrace
the cheese. Life is far too serious, and
you need to embrace the cheesy lines, jokes, puns, and other such shenanigans,
just to put a smile on someone’s face.
Even if you get punched for it.
2) Get
a pet. I don’t care what it is, even if
it’s a pet rock. Get one. Love it endlessly.
3) Risk
everything you are, to your very foundation, in relationships – especially when
it comes to love.
4) Spend
time helping other people become more.
Teach something, learn something, build people up.
5) Never
give up. This thing called life is
difficult. Never give up on it.
Nope, that’s it.
Just five rules. I know other
people have a lot more, and that’s fine.
These are my rules, not their rules.
And they’re not your rules, either.
Maybe one or two of them make sense to you, and maybe they don’t. It’s the best I’ve got. Maybe they just explain who I am a little bit
more. They’re the only ones that make
sense to me, and I think that if I’ve lived them well, I can rest easy now that
I’ve shed the mortal coil.
I
almost forgot. There’s one other thing I
have to say: Thank you. For everything. The smiles, the laughter, the tears, the
anger, the frustrations, even the pain.
Thank you for it all. You have
made my life worth living. It’s made me
find the beauty in this world, from the largest mountain to the smallest grain
of sand. Thank you for loving me, thank
you for letting me be a part of your life.
Thank you for sharing this earth with me for a time. I don’t know what lies beyond here, or if and
when we might see each other again, but I look forward to whatever it might
bring.
J. M.
Barrie penned that “To die is an awfully big adventure.” That is nothing compared to the adventure I
had while living.
Oh yes,
and thanks for that cottage cheese. It
truly was magnificent!
Thanks for taking this journey with me. It's really been fun and insightful, and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. Also -
Thanks for reading,
Me.
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