I didn't quite know how to categorize this post because it entails some different aspects of things I think are really important. But…it dawned on me that if my perspective of life was not what it is, I would have missed this incredible 45 minutes of my life and a chance to bless a man who has given his life as a "living sacrifice" for our freedom.

 

I am going to break this up into a couple of different parts…

 

Living in the Now…

 

My perspective of life has very much to do with embracing the present moment to its very fullest as much as is possible. I have some very solid reasons, I believe, for approaching life in this manner.

 

I have been on a journey these past 28 years of my life (I am currently 46) that has lead me to a point of complete transformation in the way I view the world in which we live.

I was always taught that you need to map out and plan your life according to your goals and then to write those goals down because it really creates a powerful momentum and energy to take you where you want to go.

 

As much as I believe these are great things to do…for me I have found a way that enables me to live in such a way as to find great freedom and also to be highly productive in ways that are effectively taking me to places beyond where I wanted to go…places I hadn't even conceived of existing before.

 

So…what am I talking about?

 

My journey has taken me to a place of complete freedom in Trust in God. I have found that God's trustworthiness is much more than a theoretical concept…it is an experiential reality.

 

The Bible talks about the idea that man makes plans but it is God who directs the steps. My perception of what this means now has completely revolutionized my life. If I take a look at my life now it is so much different than what I envisioned in so many ways.

 

It is not as if everything is so perfect but I have learned to completely let go of control and let God take over the daily workings of what takes place. I finally came to the conclusion that if God truly knows and sees all then He is in a much better place to take me places that He sees as the very best places to go.

 

I may have a concept of those places or they may not even be on my radar. The point is though that if God is really God then He is fully capable of working out the details of my life in ways that I would have zero clue of how to work it out. So…if God is God the only other issue is whether He is Trustworthy. Understanding that God is absolutely Trustworthy from an experiential perspective has been transformational to me.

 

Of course…simply making a decision to Trust God to direct my day to day and minute to minute steps is not even worth attempting. There has to be a deep seated reason for this to actually become a reality in life.

 

As I have grown in my understanding of who God is and what He is all about at some point I came to the complete (as complete as I can see at this point in time), experiential understanding of God's unbelievable affection for me. Nearly everyone  understands what Agape (unconditional love) is…but perhaps getting that from an understanding of the head to an understanding of the heart and emotions is not an easy jump.

Anyhow…you can read more about this in a previous post I did on another blog…but my point is that this understanding of God's precious Love for me has enabled me to come to a point of Trusting Him. It really is as simple and yet profound as that.

 

This Trust enables me to live a life immersed in the present moment without being bogged down about the worries of the past or the future. If you think about it…everything happens in the present no matter when it happens so the only place of powerful living takes place in the right here and now.

 

With that being said…

 

My Conversation with Sarge…

 

I had a phone appointment scheduled (yes I still schedule things because sometimes that is what is important in this journey of being fully immersed in the present moment) today to talk with an amazing young lady…Beth Nelson Allen.

 

Since I had an errand or two to run I decided to stop and have some green tea at a Starbucks because they have a fairly nice area to sit. It was such a gorgeous day (sun shining and about 60°) I figured it would be a pleasant experience to sip my tea, enjoy the sun outdoors and talk to Beth.

 

After this wonderful conversation with Beth I stopped by another gentleman's table who had been sitting by himself drinking some coffee and smoking up a storm. He was wearing a marine corps jacket and hat so I asked him about that and how he was doing.

 

He said he was not doing well at all. I had a decision to make…I really was just wanting to thank him for his sacrifice and service for the freedoms that I thoroughly enjoy. But now I was confronted with an individual who decided to risk something by telling me he wasn't doing so well.

 

I was a bit nervous because I didn't know what can of worms I was getting myself into but since I decided that God had brought me to this moment in time for something that He wanted I started having a conversation with this man.

 

Before I share just a few of the specifics I want to share the energy transformation that took place within this man simply by having someone taking an interest in him. His demeanor completely was transformed in our 45 minute conversation.

 

Our conversation was both enlightening and fascinating but he never once complained about his circumstances in life. I don't think he wasn't doing well as much because his circumstances as nobody seemed to care about him.

 

He has no family anywhere around and he doesn't have a connection with any of his family members anyhow. He essentially is all alone in this world. This is a shame on so many levels I can't possibly talk about them all. But I just want to mention a practical thing regarding this as it relates to society as a whole.

 

As I was talking to him our conversation turned into an interview. This man has had so many life experiences I couldn't stop simply asking questions. I will share some of those things in just a moment but it got me thinking about how much we have lost in our society because we don't really appreciate our elderly very much as a whole any longer.

 

I am not talking about individuals because I know there are an incredible amount of people who sacrifice and give of their time and energy but there has been a weakening of respect for our elderly that has taken place over the past couple of decades or more. And we have, I believe, paid a great price for this.

 

Sarge spent four years in Vietnam only to come home to a country that hated and despised him. As much as this was incredibly difficult for him it didn't seem to make him bitter about his military experience. He shared some things with me that he wished didn't happen but he fought honorably and with a great deal of pride for our nation. He also told me that some of the things he knew were still top secret and he couldn't share. I would have loved to hear those things…although I guess I couldn't share them anyhow.

 

He told me he understands that a small number of people have to sacrifice nearly everything in order for others to live freely. He does question the wisdom of the Vietnam war…not so much the reasons behind it but the way it was waged. He was permanently disabled from the war and never once was taken care of properly (which I believe is a horrible shame) but all of these years later he still is confident that his many sacrifices and those like him throughout all of the years that our nation has been in existence have been worth it.

 

He had numerous friends who had lost their lives and others who were captured never to be heard from again. He told me that our government treated all missing people as deserters. Thus…their families stopped receiving money after 60 days or thereabouts. Many of these fine men were being abused and tortured in North Vietnamese camps and yet they were classified as deserters…AWOL.

As he shared these things I could sense his sadness over these things but he never lost his conviction that overall this country in its absolute uniqueness in history is entirely worth sacrificing every last thing to preserve.

 

I asked him about some of the current day issues such as terrorism and dealing with countries such as Iran. He had simple and straightforward answers. "Cut off the head of the serpent" was a phrase he used a number of times. He doesn't believe we have the ability to make those hard decisions any longer though.

 

He would like to see us simply "take out" the leaders and "save the lives of many, many people." In other words…he believes, through his experiences in dealing with other cultures, most people have the desire to live free if given the chance and shown how to do it. If you take the leaders out of the picture and then give the people a chance to be free…they will embrace it.

 

He admits it takes an incredible amount of time and effort but he really believes that all men should live free…even if a few have to sacrifice for it. That theme kept coming up and I just was taking it all in.

 

Now…whether I completely agree with him or not is actually irrelevant. I believe that people like Sarge have so much wisdom to share with us that we are fools for not "tapping" into that wisdom as a society and a culture. We have younger and younger men and women running things today who are much more detached from their grandparents' generation. I really believe we have lost a part of our soul by not sitting down and listening to the vast amounts of insight, knowledge and wisdom our elderly have to offer.

 

I for one want to encourage you to keep your eyes open for your own "Sarge." There are plenty of people out there who not only have a great deal to share with us all…but have an absolute need to share it as well. It will not only be good for you, it will be good for them. Our communities will be much richer and our nation as a whole will become a bit more grounded if we all took opportunities to engage our lives with some of the elderly around us who have lived long, loved lots and had many many experiences that they can share with us.

 

I am not saying that everything you hear is how you need to be or believe…but your life will be enriched and you can embrace the things you hear into your own life as they make sense. But as your life is enriched so theirs will be as well…so all of our lives will be.

 

Please pass this along and leave a comment. I do appreciate it!