All I Really Want in Life
I had one of those strange dreams last night that makes one wake with the perplexing thought, “where does this stuff come from.” In the part that I remember, I am at a conference with an old acquaintance. She is a proper young woman with high standards and good taste. She says to me in the dream, “All I really want in life is a pig farm in Texas. Just give me 30 sows and two litters of piglets and I’ll be fine.” I woke laughing to myself.
As usual, though, these strange events cause my brain to whir trying to find the meaning. Perhaps some of you Daniel-want-a-be’s out there can interpret for me. After getting over the pigs–I have no idea what that means–I began to focus on her statement, “All I really want in life.” What is it we really want in life?
My answer to that question has shifted like the wind in west Oklahoma as I’ve aged. As a teenager, all I wanted was good-looking girlfriend. As a young minister at a fairly small church, all I wanted was a larger church. As a doctoral student all I wanted was teaching position. As an unemployed minister, all I wanted was a job. All we ever want seems to be the solution to the most pressing problem in our lives.
Also, it occurred to me that what we say we want, is not always what we really want. I had a conversation with a young lady today who said, “For the longest time, all I wanted was to become a lawyer.” She went so far as to take pre-law classes in college in pursuit of this goal. Now ten years after college she is not a lawyer. I asked her why? “Well,” she said, “I got married, kids started coming. I had to go to work, and it never seemed like the right time.” So becoming a lawyer really wasn’t all she wanted. She also wanted a family and was willing to sacrifice important goals for those that seemed more important.
Finally, it occurred to me that what I truly want is not something that I can gain by setting life goals and pursuing them. Those shift and change too easily. What I really want should be something that has stayed with me for years, something I continue to return to daily and weekly, something more foundational than career or family.
What I want is to be in tune with God–to hear and to respond, to see and embrace all that God has for me. Pig farms come and go. God’s Presence in our lives is eternal.
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Joey -
How true! It’s amazing to me how much in life seems to be “important” and even “urgent”… and then we find out how much it really does NOT matter in light of eternity!
I heard once: “Never sacrifice the permanent on the altar of the immediate.”
I really enjoy your site!
God Bless You!