Monday, August 29, 2005

The Anatomy of a Wasted Life

If there's anything that I hate, it's the thought of a wasted life.

During a particularly busy part of my life, as I was leaving for something one evening, my dad said, "You know, Nic, It's not a bad thing to not have something to do every once in a while." To which I replied, "Yeah, it also does one no good."

Living a Godly life is dangerous; not living it is even more so. If you're new, hold on tight. If your a seasoned pro, you can identify.

First of all, what's the difference between a wasted life and a non-wasted life? What does it matter to say that I have NOT wasted my life thus far, and do not plan to do so?

To start off with, we need a gauge with which to measure wastedness. I was talking with our youth leader, Reuben, about retirement, and I said, "I hate that word. I refuse to retire. I refuse to sit in a Nursing Home. I refuse to buy a motor home and travel the Untied States of America. (sic) Ever. I'm going die running." The newest member of our youth group replied to that in singularly non-sequitur form by saying "Well I'd rather retire than work myself into an early grave." Now, I was fine with that, sort of, until he added "Which is probably what I'll do."

Good grief! The apathy towards the only Cause that is worth an early grave. Now while some people don't even pretend to WANT to understand what it means to have zeal, passion and hope, THAT blew me away! For a 15 year old to look at his life and say "Humm, I guess I'll probably not be successful (even carnally! -Nic), so I'll probably have to work my tail off for the rest of my life. Guess I'll just die a little earlier, then. Oh well."

Never ONE thought as to what the purpose is of his existence on earth, or what had to take place for his existence to have purpose in the first place!

I heard a song a few days ago that asked "How can it be that none of the deeper questions cross your mind? Are you afraid to find surprises?" Then the chorus: "Don't you wonder where hope comes from and where Love was born and why does the sun break through the clouds and melt the pain away? Doesn't it make you want to know the Source?" I wanted to scream those lyrics from the roof of the car I was driving in, all the way through the ages into a new era of apathy haters, and burn out the spirit of struggle that is so undeniably prevalent in our society, particularly our youth today.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am ready for a SERIOUS battle, waging war on the very existence of apathy in our culture, and I'm taking soldiers, people to take on the challenge of destroying a spirit that has taken down the very hope for a strong future. And I'm not talking about a monetary success, either, I'm talking about the future of the effective conservative Mennonite movement in particular. And maybe this isn't anything new. Maybe this is old hat and apathy has been a problem for more than just this generation. That's not the point. The point is, this is a problem now, and it's apparent to me because I live, as a conservative Mennonite Christian youth, in this culture, at this time.

Any comments on this would be appreciated greatly, as well as any insight on how to solve this problem. Remember, non bloggers, you can leave comments too!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sorry, it looks like I'm your only fan so far. Oh the tragedy. :) One comment. There is value in "not having something to do every once in awhile." We will be no good to those around us if we do not take time to spend time with just us and God." "Lord, send a revival, and let it begin in me." I realize that you probably were not contradicting this, but I thought it was worth mentioning.

Fight the war against apathy! Sooner or later, someone will have to care, if only because they get annoyed at those fighting.

Byran said...

I like what I'm hearing, Nic.

Anonymous said...

May i echo Annie, "Lord, send revival, and let it beign in me." Friends take heart, there are other warriors out there, and though you feel like your alone in the struggle, there are others struggling for the same cause.

I want to fight appathy, but i fiind myself asking this question, "How can I?" Sometimes it seems that all i know how to do is to pray.

Anonymous said...

What do you think causes apathy in people? I've been thinking about that when I watch our youth who would be fine to sit and watch the world go by. What can be done to stimulate passion in them rather than having them live off the energy others generate?

Nic Miller said...

Quite possibly it's the ease of living "happy". You don't have to struggle to survive, and survive well, so why should you struggle to be different? to live fully?

Anonymous said...

Good luck, pal. Stronger men with more resources than you have tried to change the world. And, guess what? It still turned out just the way it is.

You think everybody's been sitting on their rear ends waiting for YOU to come along and save them? Lucky us.

And what's with the Mennonite thing? Are the rest of us unwashed barbarian non-Mennonite hordes not good enough for your efforts? (And why are you a Mennonite anyway? Do Mennonites have a tradition going back to the Apostles? If you're Christian, why aren't you Catholic?)

Do me a favor, pal. On your quest to resod the earth with a lawn you like, try not to plow me under.