Sunset over the west coast of Florida
I spent last weekend in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The home of the University of Arkansas Razorbacks. (Yes, I realize that the last sentence is gratuitous. . .because if you follow football, you already knew that. If you don’t follow football, it doesn’t matter anyway.)
The topic for the weekend retreat: Living Full Throttle.
I was the speaker for the retreat. But I must confess that I’m not sure what “living full throttle” even means. Yes, it’s enticing and feels like something we should strive for (all the while giving ourselves grief for falling short).
Or maybe I do know, but instead of living that way, I capitulate to a vicarious living instead. Buying into the notion that “life” (or at least an interesting and full throttle life) is someplace other than where I am right now. How else to explain standing in the longest checkout line at the supermarket, just so I can flip through the magazines stoking whatever is inside of me that covets and craves the swirling drama accompanying celebrity, celebrities wanna be, people famous and infamous? What’s that all about?
In this week’s Sabbath Moment, I quoted Chris Hedges (Losing Moses on the Freeway) talking about his father’s ministry (pastor at Colgate University). “Surely (Hedges wrote) I thought, even my father with his close proximity to disease and death and grief would have some wisdom to impart.
‘Mostly,’ he answered, ‘I make the coffee.’
It was his presence, more than anything he could say, which mattered.”
That’s it?
Yes, that’s it.
Maybe, just maybe, showing up is a pretty good place to start. Lord only knows why (or how) we swallowed the notion that we have to “have our life or act together” in order to have meaning. . .
or make a difference. . .
or contribute. . .
or show up. . .
or become the change we want to see.
The path to your door
Is the path within:
Is made by animals,
Is lined by flowers,
Is lined by thorns,
Is stained with wine,
Is lit by the lamp of sorrowful dreams,
Is washed with joy,
Is swept by grief,
Is blessed by the lonely traffic of art,
Is known by heart,
Is known by prayer,
Is lost and found,
Is always strange,
The path to your door.Amen.
Michael Leunig
3 Comments
Wow, “Living Full Throttle” sounds exhausting to me. And it doesn’t sound like something YOU would name a workshop either Terry—so I’m assuming it was chosen by the venue. Maybe this an attractive concept to 20-year-olds?…
Wouldn’t Living Full Throttle would get boring and tiresome fast? Because it sounds like there’s no room for modulation, for natural rhythms of on and off, or for those “unrepentant naps” you speak so fondly of. I think I would miss that.
Beautiful photo.
It definitely has an appeal. It’s the energy. And I think it’s good if we don’t try and force it but let life and the day happen, in all its nuances and varying beats. If it’s forced, it becomes toxic. Addictions grow this way. We can treasure these full throttle times when they come which can, really, consist of anything from the smile of a young child, to the scent of new mown grass, to reaching the top of Mt. Everest. Or sometimes just being in full awareness which makes one want to shout Hallelujah.
Heidi,
As one of the task-force members putting on the event, I can assure you that “Living Full Throttle” wasn’t meant to be exhausting. It was really quite the opposite. It was about living life abundantly, to be fully aware of and grateful for all the beauty and bounty of our lives rather than rushing on to the next BIG thing and missing all the amazing little things.
And you are correct, the title is not one that Terry chose. He had to work with what he was given. And it is my sincere hope that I never grow bored with appreciating all that life offers me.