My Bucket List

Lately, since i turned sixty, I've been thinking more about the things that I would like to do. I don't just mean to climb a mountain or to see pyramid. But I am tired of having a list of things that I really hoped to get at, and then to come to the end of the day – the week – the year, and see that they are not done.
Lots of these items aren't just personal goals – they came to me when I was praying, and I honestly believed that my God was calling me to do something. Here is the start of my list of things that really matter to me:

1. There are some key passages from the Bible that I want to study inside and out, in original languages and culture as well as current interpretations. So far, this list includes: Deuteronomy 6:1-25; Isaiah 53; Isaiah 55; John chapters 5-10; John 17; Ephesians 3:14-21; Colossians 1-4. (Perhaps I may memorize good portions of these.)
   
2. Ask myself each week – is everyone in my family certain that I love them. Is there a way to show them and tell them again soon?
   
3. Keep going on dates with Pat, letting her know that I'd rather be with her than anywhere else in the world.
   
4. Pray and then ask myself each week: Who are the people that I can bless this week? Then do it.
   
5. Review my 35 years of journals, take note of the significant moments of insight and record them together in one document.
   
6. Take time to mediate on those insights, and to speak lovingly and honestly with my God every day.
   
7. Begin a practice to record the dates of funerals that I lead, and continue to follow up with the family regularly as appropriate. Back date this practice for the last few years, and do the same for weddings and baptisms and child dedications.
   
8. Be alert to current discussion and articles about Faith and Science, and other key questions of truth and worldview.
   
9. Make sure that I have invited my family, my friends, people that I love, to choose Christ – not only to be ready for heaven, but to have the full robust faith needed for this life.
   
10. I want to make music on my violin and piano and guitar, and ride my bike year-round.
    
11. I want to read a book every two weeks and classic novel each year.
    
12. I want to live out loud, and live generously as a spiritual life coach, equipping leaders and emerging leaders, and listening to anyone who needs to talk.
    

More things will hit the list, and some of these are getting checked off. When it is all said and done, I want no regrets. I will stand before God, full of worship and gratitude, and out of breath because life has been so full.

Whatever you believe must deal with these questions

Last week, I couldn't sleep, and began to wonder about a statement that I heard, "For something to be true, it must be true in all avenues of life." I must not have gotten it quite right, because I can't google it anywhere. If you find the original, let me know.  In any case the following comments came out of that sleepless hour....

As one considers the foundation for their world view, there are universal questions that need to be dealt with in any view of life. The greatness of these questions means that any view will have difficulty in fully satisfying them. Yet any view that fails to adequately deal with them cannot be considered valid. These questions include:

Material questions:

1. The question of origins. Did the physical universe always exist, or did it come to be? It appears from the Law of Entropy that the universe must have had a beginning point. One could postulate that the Law of Entropy had a start point. If the universe came to be, how could it have begun? If the universe had a beginning, what was there before the beginning?
2. The question of complexity. What explanations are possible for the complexity of the genetic code, the balance of nature and vastness of space.
3. The question of eternity. What does “forever” mean?

Ethical Questions:

4. The question of evil.
5. The question of evil in me. If there is a true measure of what ought to be, and if I fall short, what prevents me from attaining that true measure?
6. The question of morality and ethics. Is there a standard of right and wrong?

Spiritual Questions:

7. The question of personality. Does the presence of personality in human beings and in other creatures point to a higher personality?
8. The question meaning in the face of decay and death, The certainty of my own death and the death of all whom I might influence and the reality of the eventual decay of everything causes me to question the purpose and meaning of life and of the world. Is meaning to be found in this world, or is meaning to be found beyond this world?
9. The question of love and beauty. Is an understanding of love and beauty essential to an understanding of the world, or is it possible to have a world view that does not assign value to love and beauty?

Rational Questions:

10. The question of consistency. How can I explain the apparent presence of universal constants, physical, mathematical, logical, spiritual? These form the basis of discovery, the basis of reason and argument, and the basis a view of life. These constants are necessary for any discussion to take place.
11. The question of truth. Is there truth, and is there a way to discover truth? Is there a means to weigh truth and opinions about truth? Is all truth found by searching? What other means of attaining truth may be considered? Is truth knowable?
12. The question of responsibility. Is there a responsibility of each person to determine and to sift out what is true and to live in accordance with truth? Is it enough to attempt to seek truth? What is the consequence of living in a way that does not cohere with truth?

A system of belief must be able to answer these questions. The law of consequence would suggest that living by an incomplete system will bring one into conflict with the laws of the universe. It would appear that there must be only one system, and that such a system will have consistency, coherence, and universal application. One must not assume that one belief system will be as good as another, and one must reject a system of belief on grounds of personal preference or history.