It’s been a bit of a strange week or so. At the end of last week, we flew to Florida to attend a pre-kindergarden graduation of our grandson. OK, so we as a society have probably taken the concept of graduation to extreme levels, but it still marked an end and a beginning. Most likely next year he will leave behind the relative playing period of life and begin the necessary work of growing intellectually and socially.
While we were there I noticed on an email from the newspaper back home that a young woman had died on the railroad just two block from our house. That was an ending that was the end.
I went from Florida to Chicago for a conference and then yesterday driving to the park for a run I went on the bridge over the tracks just where she had died. Posters and flowers were there to commemorate her passing. It was an odd, reflective moment.
Do you know what’s going on in the emotional life of those around you? It’s hard. It’s even hard to realize what’s going on inside yourself.
When I was taught philosophy and religion, I was always a little uneasy about the way it was taught. It wasn’t until several years out of college that it dawned on me what the problem was. It was taught as intellectual mind games. The development of intellectual, logical thought.
But the goal of that education should be to help you live your life fully. It’s really all about how to live your life with God hour by hour, minute by minute. I have no idea what was going through that girl’s mind during her last hour. But it is certainly a tragedy. Meanwhile I look at my grandkids and hope that I can gently pass on the idea that the goal of life is simply to live it well with God in you. All the striving and mind games are perhaps interesting, but not the goal.
Faith Venture 
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