The New Eve - Lewis Robert [54]
Your Life's End
When I set out on a trip, what I believe about the destination dictates the choices I make and the actions I take throughout the journey. Am I driving to Florida with the kids? I believe it's sunny there and packed with beaches and theme parks. I pack shorts, shades, and short-sleeved shirts. I drive south rather than north. I gear up for pleasure rather than business. And if I remember the sunburn I got last time, I stop and buy sunscreen.
But what if it's the dead of winter and I'm heading to northern Michigan instead? It's cold rather than hot. I'm bound for business, not pleasure. I'd better not make the same choices I made for the Florida vacation. Where I drive and what I pack, as well as the plans and choices I make all along the journey, are all shaped by the destination.
Life is the same way. How you want your life to finish should be reflected in how you are living today. King Solomon understood this. This is why in Ecclesiastes 7:2 he said it's better to go to a funeral than a party. A party can lift your spirits, firm up your network, and introduce you to new friends and ideas. That's good stuff. But if it's meaning, happiness, and fulfillment in life you're after, you go to a funeral. You stand there and gaze uncomfortably at the deceased, not sure how long you should linger before moving on. You think of her life, theme, and legacy. What did she mean to you? To others? What mark did she make in life? Was it meaningful? Was it happy? Did it make a difference? Did it have any connection with eternity? You turn these questions over in your head and listen to the whispered comments all around you. Then you wonder what friends and family would say at your funeral.
That's what's so good about this moment. It brings the end to mind. Your end. It's natural here to ask yourself if you are measuring up. Do the choices you've been making count for anything? For what? You're on sacred ground now. You've penetrated the fog of daily existence and come face-to-face with what life is really all about: your end goals. So what do you see? Do you like what you see? If not, how as a woman, a wife, a mother, a worker, and a Christian would you like your life to end? Having done and become what? Giving your life to what? Leaving what to whom? Can you see it? Is it clear? Is it meaningful? Satisfying? Will it be meaningful in eternity?
It's healthy to ask yourself these sorts of questions. Necessary, even, if you want to be a New Eve. It's a step of bold, practical faith that will eventually lead you to a better life, as it has others.
The Now Lifestyle
Of course, there is an easier path. Many people—women and men—take it. It's a way of life that seeks the approval of the moment regardless of the long-term consequences. This lifestyle pays no heed to the insights of timeless wisdom. Today is all that matters. Cultural cues get all the attention. Whatever the world is saying, being in is of utmost importance. Forget the popular slogans and images of yesterday. Now is what counts.
A term paper written by a female Yale student exemplifies this way of life:
Most Yale women … aren't clamoring for equal rights or the chance to be called on in class anymore. They want a long wool coat for the winter, a Macintosh laptop computer with an MP3 player, a course load that doesn't include books by dead white men exclusively, a gay man for advice and a straight man for every other weekend or so, one good pair of Manolo Blahniks sometime in the future, to maintain a woman's right to choose, something to finally be done for the women being circumcised in Africa and suffocated under burqas in the Middle East, a cigarette or a shot or a joint when the company is right, a husband at some point though no point soon, a good