"Seize the day gentlemen. Make your lives extraordinary." -Dead Poet's Society
"What are you doing to make the world more awesome?" -Kid President
I've been watching a lot of Charlie Chaplin's final speech from The Great Dictator recently. In fact, it's what I've been listening to each morning when I wake up.
If you haven't heard it, I suggest you stop reading and find it on YouTube and then return to this blog. Or don't. I wouldn't hold it against you.
There's a passage that has particularly started to stir me: "In the seventeenth chapter of St. Luke it is written, 'The kingdom of God is within men.' Not one man. Nor a group of men. But in ALL men. In you. You the people have the power. The power to create machines. The power to create happiness. You the people have the power to make this life free and beautiful. To make this life a wonderful adventure."
We are capable of changing the world. Capable of bringing love where there is hate. Joy where there is emptiness. YOU. ME. If heaven is within us then how could we possibly hold it in?!
I love funny movies too. As a general rule I'd much rather laugh at a movie than cry. And I'm not picky. If it makes me laugh, that's good enough for me. Case in point: Out Cold.
There's a character in the movie named Pigpen, and quite frankly, Pigpen is stupid. He's not exactly an A+ student (or a D- for that matter.) At a critical point in the movie, a big plan is made and the group let's out a yell of excitement. For Pigpen's part, he screams, "Carpe Diem. Seize the... CARP!"
It's a stupid moment made for stupid laughs. But it's stuck with me for years! It's a GREAT image.
Can you imagine seizing the day by running around swinging a fish?! You'd get the craziest looks! People might even call the white coats to come pick you up on the spot. But no one would say you weren't living life to the fullest. No one could say there wasn't some life flowing out of you.
But we've lost that joy and that passion and that dream little by little. Not all of us. But most of us. We've seen dreams fail and disappointments mount. We've gotten caught up in the daily drudgery of day to day life, just hoping to make it home at the end of the day with a little energy. We've been numbed by technology that tells us it's more worthwhile to TALK about our lives than it is to LIVE them. It's as if we've even forgotten HOW to dream.
But we just need a little reminder. We have to find that small nugget of heaven in our lives that reminds us how magical life can be. We have to listen to that still small voice of God whispering sweet nothings in our ear that spur us towards bringing heaven down to bless our neighbors. And we've got to let go of those things that keep us from living life. Life was for LIVING, not surviving! Don't settle for boring. Aspire to whimsy!
Are you too busy? Me too. Let's quit something. Simon and Andrew were in the middle of their jobs when Jesus invited them into the party.
Are you too young? Me too. So what. Jeremiah was a boy when God called him.
Are you not good enough? We couldn't be MORE good enough! The Samaritan woman wasn't good enough. Zacchaeus wasn't good enough. Moses wasn't good enough. NO ONE that has ever lived life to the fullest and blessed the world was good enough! But God told wicked awesome stories with them anyways.
God knit you and me together with the carefullest of hands. He breathed his breath to fill our lungs. His spark started our creativity and his love fills our hearts. It's from Him that we have our unique, quirky, amazing talents, passions and gifts. What an incredible story the Father is waiting to tell with his children. There's an awesome story with your name on it that only you can tell!
Let's turn off our phones. Let's close our laptops and shut down our tablets. Let's stop tweeting and instagraming our lives and just start DOING life. There's a story waiting for you and me that only we can live out. Who knows how many days we have left? Maybe 6,318. Maybe 29. They are precious, each one filled with whimsy. Why not suck the marrow out of each one? What good is a life lived without passion? What fun is a life without dreams?
And what's more exciting? The stories Jesus told with his life were always involving other people. He was never alone. As we start to live stories that wreak of passion and life, we inevitably want to invite others to do that same. Find your heaven. Find the place where you can hear God's still small whisper breathing life to the fullest into you and go wave your carp. And invite some other people to the party.
So what are we waiting for? Wake up! Grab your carp and get to living. I'm coming to dance with you. That's the story God has waiting for us. A life of whimsy and a life of dancing. That's why Jesus kept calling heaven a party. And if that party is so great, I'd rather start it now. There's a life to be lived. A life passing us by. To quote Kid President, "What are you going to do to make the world more awesome?!" SEIZE THE CARP!
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