Ensign: Table of Content
All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye. Isaiah 18:3
AN ENSIGN ON THE MOUNTAINS 30 December 2016
Usually my last Ensign of the year is a somewhat clever balance between seeking God's guidance for the coming year and a recap of what's gone on the previous three hundred sixty-five days. And it's not that nothing happened with me and my family, but I've been writing about it all year. In fact, this year I've been going through the Ensigns, blogs, journals, and other posts that I've written and it's quite a list. I'm placing it at the beginning of that big 2016 folder -- actually, several folders -- as a table of contents. I expect anyone who's ever read a book knows what a table of contents is, that list at the beginning of whatever you read followed by the page number of where to find it.
Sometimes it's not as handy as you might think.
If you remember a particular turn of phrase but don't remember who said it or where it is (and this was in the pre-search engine days, but even those aren't always reliable) contents might not help you. But content will. And being content, in the face of whatever has happened, is happening, and will happen in life. When we see content in Scripture it doesn't refer to a list of what's available as a "table of contents" would but rather a state of satisfaction in the sense of "I am content". Does this mean we don't want to change anything because we are satisfied or contented? Of course not -- you and I are changing all the time, even if we don't want to. We get older, we move, and life happens.
Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, to be content.
Paul of Tarsus, c. 70, from Rome to the church at Philippi. I would like to say Paul of Tarsus stole that from me ... actually, no I wouldn't. In Philippians 4:11 that I quote above, state is not meant to refer to a geographic designation but rather a condition of being. And certainly there are certain things Paul -- and we who can say this; too often I've only heard the second half recited starting "for I have learned ..." -- wants, desires, actively seeks out to feel complete in the sight of God as well as his fellow man. But those wants didn't for Paul and shouldn't for us get in the way of our content with what we have and who we are with.
If it does, we're getting lost.
But being lost never has to be a permanent condition. God didn't create us that way; indeed, He created us with an earnest desire to seek Him out. More than seeking our "other half" in the way most people consider marriage, when we are seeking God -- even when we don't necessarily understand what we're doing -- I've at least learned that we are seeking out the best purpose we can fulfill. I know that doesn't always come across here, and where it doesn't, I pray starting now that I'm able to live a more abundant life and that others see that I am. At forty-five, I am learning to be content with a lot less of what I want and where I think I should be and a lot more with here and now.
This is the last of earth. I am content.
John Quincy Adams, 1848, on the floor of the U.S. Capitol building. Besides being a good guide for what to do as a former President -- Adams who had been the sixth President of the United States served in the House of Representatives when he said these last words -- it's also a good way to face life. No one wants to die, but the distance between right now and that moment (or the Rapture, whichever comes first) gets shorter every day. And when we come upon OUR last of earth, let us be found content that we may not have done all we wanted to do, but all we have done we have done with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind. Let all know we are content.
See you next year,
David
AN ENSIGN ON THE MOUNTAINS 30 December 2016
Usually my last Ensign of the year is a somewhat clever balance between seeking God's guidance for the coming year and a recap of what's gone on the previous three hundred sixty-five days. And it's not that nothing happened with me and my family, but I've been writing about it all year. In fact, this year I've been going through the Ensigns, blogs, journals, and other posts that I've written and it's quite a list. I'm placing it at the beginning of that big 2016 folder -- actually, several folders -- as a table of contents. I expect anyone who's ever read a book knows what a table of contents is, that list at the beginning of whatever you read followed by the page number of where to find it.
Sometimes it's not as handy as you might think.
If you remember a particular turn of phrase but don't remember who said it or where it is (and this was in the pre-search engine days, but even those aren't always reliable) contents might not help you. But content will. And being content, in the face of whatever has happened, is happening, and will happen in life. When we see content in Scripture it doesn't refer to a list of what's available as a "table of contents" would but rather a state of satisfaction in the sense of "I am content". Does this mean we don't want to change anything because we are satisfied or contented? Of course not -- you and I are changing all the time, even if we don't want to. We get older, we move, and life happens.
Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, to be content.
Paul of Tarsus, c. 70, from Rome to the church at Philippi. I would like to say Paul of Tarsus stole that from me ... actually, no I wouldn't. In Philippians 4:11 that I quote above, state is not meant to refer to a geographic designation but rather a condition of being. And certainly there are certain things Paul -- and we who can say this; too often I've only heard the second half recited starting "for I have learned ..." -- wants, desires, actively seeks out to feel complete in the sight of God as well as his fellow man. But those wants didn't for Paul and shouldn't for us get in the way of our content with what we have and who we are with.
If it does, we're getting lost.
But being lost never has to be a permanent condition. God didn't create us that way; indeed, He created us with an earnest desire to seek Him out. More than seeking our "other half" in the way most people consider marriage, when we are seeking God -- even when we don't necessarily understand what we're doing -- I've at least learned that we are seeking out the best purpose we can fulfill. I know that doesn't always come across here, and where it doesn't, I pray starting now that I'm able to live a more abundant life and that others see that I am. At forty-five, I am learning to be content with a lot less of what I want and where I think I should be and a lot more with here and now.
This is the last of earth. I am content.
John Quincy Adams, 1848, on the floor of the U.S. Capitol building. Besides being a good guide for what to do as a former President -- Adams who had been the sixth President of the United States served in the House of Representatives when he said these last words -- it's also a good way to face life. No one wants to die, but the distance between right now and that moment (or the Rapture, whichever comes first) gets shorter every day. And when we come upon OUR last of earth, let us be found content that we may not have done all we wanted to do, but all we have done we have done with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind. Let all know we are content.
See you next year,
David
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