Since this is the usual time of year when everyone makes lists of what they want to accomplish in the coming months, or what they want to stop doing, or where they want to travel, or whatever, I thought I would compose my own 'bucket list'. This proved difficult.
On the one hand, I always have plenty of places in mind to visit or books to read or interesting things to do. But the trouble is, these fluctuate tremendously from week to week, and I really don't want to have to keep track of a list! Those of you who know me best understand that I am the queen of flexibility and spontaneity when it comes to travel or finding something to do. (What I usually need is a partner...)
On the other hand, a 'bucket list' seems both self-indulgent and confining, and makes me say "so what?" when I ponder ticking off each item on the list. The kinds of things most people seem to put on such lists don't impress me as something really important if one is looking back on a lifetime.
Then it hit me. I already have a 'bucket list' that I need to live up to every single day. If I can keep up with the items on this list, I won't be ashamed to look back on my life and I won't be sorry for my children and grandchildren to reflect on who I was, or who I tried to be.
That's my new resolve.
What is this list? Oh, it's been around for millennia. In the Judaeo-Christian tradition, this list is known as the Ten Commandments, or the Decalogue. I know. How simplistic and out-of-touch could I be? But the more I think about this, the more I see these guidelines as the absolute foundation for a person's life. They form a blueprint for us that really can't be surpassed. Let's consider this briefly.
In the First Commandment, God speaks to us directly and tells us two important things: God is ours and God has no equal. Everything does begin with that. It's both utterly simple and utterly complex, and we have the example of so many witnesses to show us that starting from this first commandment forms one's entire life. God exists and we should put God first. I think that if I just kept this commandment faithfully for the rest of my life, I would be too busy for any laziness or despair.
The Second and Third Commandments also concern God and our responses to the revelations of the First. I must try not to take God's name in vain. This is such an easy thing to forget, and we use God's name so cavalierly. When I stop and think about why I shouldn't take God's name in vain, I am (as the British say) gob-smacked at my audacity. Do I use God's name to condemn someone or someone's actions? That's a tremendous abuse of God's power and authority. How dare I! Or if I use God's name in a frivolous and vain comment, I am more or less trashing God. Oh boy. Not very smart, either.
Honoring the Sabbath grows increasingly counter-cultural, doesn't it? I always disliked having my children's baseball games played on Sundays, and fortunately those times were few, but once we came home from church and had a meal together, Sunday really wasn't very holy. I grew up in an era when most stores were closed on Sundays, and most restaurants, too, and no one would consider going to the movies on Sundays when I was very young. I remember one of my Sunday School teachers telling me that she (a talented seamstress) never sewed on Sundays. Another teacher told me that when she was in school, if she hadn't finished her homework by bedtime on Saturday, she wasn't allowed to finish it on Sunday. Period. Quite a difference between then and now, isn't it? Here's another commandment that I could focus on for the rest of my life! How to keep the Sabbath holy. What a challenge.
The Fourth Commandment asks me to honor my father and mother. So many of us have to wrestle with the challenges of caring for and honoring our parents as they age. And many of us have already said farewell to both parents, leaving us bereft of their presence. I now find myself trying to honor their memories by being the kind of daughter they hoped I would be and guiding my children and grandchildren to be the kinds of people their great-grandparents were.
The remaining commandments remind us of basic behaviors that keep our society together.
We should not kill. There are so many ways we kill in addition to homicide. I must try to remember those other categories and support respect for life in everything.
We must not commit adultery. Oh, the temptations our culture throws at us! And the encouragement it gives us to break the bonds of marriage and commitment. I must try to remember the subtle and insidious ways that adultery can enter our lives and close my heart and mind to them.
We must not steal. And who hasn't been tempted with that? Once again, there are so many things we might steal that aren't material things. Someone's reputation, by spreading hurtful stories? I must keep careful watch on this one, too.
We must not bear false witness (usually described as lying). Don't we do this almost without thinking sometimes? And don't we treasure friends whom we know never slander or lie? A good item for anyone's 'bucket list'.
The last two commandments enjoin us not to covet anything that belongs to our neighbor, neither his wife nor his servants nor his possessions. Oh my. That sometimes feels like the entire basis for every advertisement we see. We want what everyone else has. We are encouraged to want what everyone else has. Actually, to covet goes even further. Coveting means to desire something inordinately that belongs to another. Doe this seem to lie behind every war ever fought (and every war being fought now)? So I have my work cut out for me here as well. And truly, I am beginning to feel like giving away so many of the things I have accumulated in my life. But I have to resist the constant bombardment of our culture to find happiness in possessions.
Now that I've laid out this ancient bucket list, I feel ridiculously audacious. And yet, if I try to conform my life to these standards, I believe my baby steps will lead me to even greater adventures than zip-lining in Costa Rica or cruising to Antarctica. I'm going to be busy!
No comments:
Post a Comment