From the Pastor's Pen, November, 2005:

June 2008 From the Pastor's Pen

“Seizing the Day”

Lately my music choice in the car has been a CD by a favorite singer/songwriter, Mary Chapin Carpenter. You’d probably typecast her music style as “country,” but she really goes beyond labels and categories. (And, as is often true, categories aren’t always that helpful; they only encourage us to make snap judgments, but that, perhaps, is a column for another day.) I know what I like about her music is that it makes me feel good—I want to roll down the windows and play it loud, and sing along, very loud. Her upbeat songs, and even the more moody ones, have a quality that is more than just a beautiful voice. Her lyrics are poetic, and almost every song, from “I Feel Lucky” to “Stones in the Road,” has one or more line or phrase that just stops me in my tracks. The way she uses the language is striking.

But this is a pastor’s column, not a music review. The thing that I realized several times through the CD (I can’t just listen to good music once!) is that Mary Chapin Carpenter’s lyrics have a common theme of living life in the now, carpe diem (“seize the day”). I think that’s why I like her music so much. Let me give you an example. In her song “The Long Way Home,” she starts off with a driving rhythm telling about the lives of driven people, executives on the fast track. But then she offers this contrast:

Or you could be the one who takes the long way home
Roll down your window, turn off your phone
See your life as a gift from the great unknown
And your task is to receive it
Tell your kid a story, hold your lover tight
Make a joyful noise, swim naked at night
Read a poem a day, call in well sometimes and
Laugh when they believe it

I don’t know that my list would be the same as Chapin’s, but you get the idea. What amazed me about this song is that it wasn’t just a lecture on what a person should do, or how they should live; it was a reminder that there are choices in attitude of how we live.

“Seize the Day” can be a dangerous motto. It might lead us to more liberty than we ought to take, an idea of “if it feels good, do it.” If everyone did that, and nobody felt responsibility to do their job or care for others or consequences for their actions, where would we be?

But I think there’s a way that we can seize the day, to “see your life as a gift from the great unknown . . .” as Chapin puts it.

Life is a gift. The gift is good. The gift is from God.

That puts a different angle on what it means to seize the day. Instead of a self-centered, every person for him or herself, self-indulgent, I’ll-do-as-I-please-and-forget-about-you” attitude, recognizing life as a gift from God to be enjoyed and shared enriches life for all. It’s an attitude that calls us to receive what’s been given—GRACE—and live life each day for all it’s worth. Rather than being individualistic, such an idea calls us to be in community, because we see that the good for me can only also be good when it is good for you, for the community, and for the earth. That’s because grace is not grace if it’s only for me. The reality of grace, God’s freely given love, is that it is for all people.

And, the grace of God calls out a response in us. Don’t just wait for good things to happen tomorrow; good things are happening now! Because good things are happening now, celebrate them, share them, point them out to others.

This perspective isn’t always easy. It’s also not a mindless, Pollyanna-ish attitude. Grace is too big and too important to be trivialized that way. What it says is: enjoy the gift God gives you today. That doesn’t mean that terrible things won’t happen along the way, too; it just means that each day is a gift from God. Don’t waste the gift by worrying, or borrowing trouble, or wishing for more. Live.

As these spring days move toward summer, I encourage you to seize the day, or better put, to live the gift of grace. Jesus lived that, and taught it: “consider the lilies of the field . . . do not be anxious . . . seek first God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.” (Matthew 6, selected verses)

Wherever your travels take you this summer, remember that God is there. Remember that life is a gift from God. Remember that the gift is good. May we share those good gifts in worship and fellowship at First UMC, and take them out into the world.

On the Journey with you,

e-mail Pastor Baker-Streevy