What’s It All About?

She can no longer sing, and her mobility is seriously limited, but her heart belongs to God and she focuses on others rather than herself. She spends her life ministering to others. She focuses on the goodness of God and on what she can do rather than what she cannot do.

When I think of beautiful people like Demi Moore who have it all, and yet find life so disappointing and need drugs in order to face the day, I think of a little nun from Albania who was as homely as a woman could be, and yet shined with a beauty that immediately attracted you to her. She shunned the accolades and attention of the world. She never experienced love and marriage. She did not seek out beautiful beach resorts, but lived in the slums of Calcutta. She served the most poverty-stricken people on earth who were plagued with the worst of diseases, and yet she would have described her life as extremely fulfilled. She walked through human suffering and squalor every day, and brought joy to all those around her. In a world of alienation and hate, she shined with the love of God. She didn’t pose naked, she clothed the naked. She died just a day or so after Princess Diana, and guess who got the most press. It brings to mind the Scripture that says, “But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first” (Matthew 19:30).

When I think of all those who are so disillusioned with life they want to end it, I think of someone like Joni Eareckson who is paralyzed from the shoulders down. After the accident that paralyzed her, she wanted to die, and actually begged people to end her misery. But slowly her attention began to shift from herself to others who had disabilities like her. She saw that God had uniquely placed her in a situation where she could understand and reach a whole group of people who were often ignored in this culture which worships beauty, health and power. As her heart filled with concern for others, her natural self-pity began to dissipate, and a whole world of opportunity and personal growth opened up for her. She recently wrote: “The core of God's plan is to rescue us from sin and self-centeredness. Suffering — especially the chronic kind — is God's choicest tool to accomplish this. It is a long process. But it means I can accept my paralysis as a chronic condition. When I broke my neck, it wasn't a jigsaw puzzle I had to solve fast, or a quick jolt to get me back on track. My paralyzing accident was the beginning of a lengthy process of becoming like Christ.”

Really, life is pretty simple. Jesus distilled all the teachings of the Bible and the secret to life into two commandments: Love God and love others. He said that all the laws of the Bible are fulfilled in those two commandments. Set your affections on something beside yourself. Set your affections on what is Transcendent. The Bible says, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world — the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does — comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever” (1 John 2:15-17).

Love God, love others. Those are the