Recently, I read Faith Under Fire by Roger Benimoff. It’s a memoir about his time serving as an Army chaplain during his second tour of duty in the Iraq War.
At the beginning of the book, he recounts a time when he was asked to give a one-minute talk to the troops. He was nervous and struggling with what to say that would be short yet meaningful. He decided to tell them a story he had heard from a fellow Army chaplain about what would happen if God granted 60 Minutes an interview. What would God say? The chaplain imagined it like this:
“When asked what surprises Him most about mankind, God says it’s that people are in a rush to grow up, and then they long to be children again; that they lose their health to make money and then lose their money to restore their health. When asked what are the most important lessons of life, God says He’d like people to learn that it takes years to build trust and only a few seconds to destroy it. That a rich person is not the one who has the most but the one who needs the least. That it’s not enough to forgive others—people also need to learn to forgive themselves.”
I once saw this quote on the sign of a roadside country church: “Life is fun if you don’t keep score.” Living a life of meaning that’s also filled with love and happiness is not complicated, really. Just follow a few rules: Tell the truth. Live simply. Give more, and expect less.
Decide What’s Really Important
But in order to live that kind of life and focus on those few rules, you have to establish priorities.
Years ago, a client told me about “The Story of the Five Balls.” This little gem of a tale, included in James Patterson’s moving book Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas, is so very powerful. It goes like this:
“Imagine life is a game in which you are juggling five balls. The balls are called work, family, health, friends and integrity, and you’re keeping all of them in the air. But one day you finally come to understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. The other four balls — family, health, friends and integrity— are made of glass. If you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably scuffed, nicked or perhaps even shattered. Once you truly understand the lesson of the five balls, you will have the beginnings of balance in your life.”
Wow! That spoke to me then and still speaks to me today. Just think how much time so many of us spend focusing on the “work ball” making sure it’s shiny, bright and perfect. All the while, we neglect the other balls that are so fragile and so much more valuable.
We’ll never see God interviewed on 60 Minutes, but I think I know what he’d say.