Ten Essentials for Life

I have been looking back over the vista of my life and reflecting on all those hills and valleys I have walked and marveling at all the path's twists, turns, and sidetracks! I have really been about reviewing the scrapbook of my life and categorizing things as monumental, incidental, and inconsequential. It's amazing to see the number of monumental events; they stand out as the mountains in the vista as I look back. Some were extremely painful, some were completly joyful but many were bittersweet.

I have also been examining my pack: what are my core values, the ten essentials of my life, that I carry with me on a day to day basis, so that I am prepared as I encounter the monumental, incidental, and inconsequential for the rest of my days? This process has been a fabulous one! I have been about decluttering my pack and lightening the load! What a relief! I don't have to carry around my family of origin and all their dysfunction and the pain they continually dish out! I don't have to carry around bitterness for hurts that were thrown to me from those whom I thought loved me in days gone by. I have been offered the opportunity to offload this junk! I am so relieved!

I came across this list today as I was reading "A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and Other Servants". It has 9 things on the list. See if these are 9 essentials that you can agree with:

1. I declare myself to be a world citizen.
2. I commit myself to lead an ecologically sound life.
3. I commit myself to lead a life of creative simplicity and to share my personal wealth with the world's poor.
4. I commit myself to join with others in reshaping institutions in oreder to bring about a more just global society in which each person has full access to the needed resources for their physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual growth.
5. I commit myself to occupational accountability, and in so doing I will seek to avoid the creation of products which cause harm to others.
6. I affirm the gift of my body, and commit myself to its proper nourishment and physical well being.
7. I commit myself to examine continually my relations with others, and to attempt to relate honestly, morally, and lovingly, to those around me.
8. I commit myself to personal renewal through prayer, meditation, and study.
9. I commit myself to responsible participation in a community of faith.

the above list is taken from Visions of a World Hungry, by Thomas G. Pettepiece

I would add my tenth essential, which really simply is,
10. I commit myself to searching out , discerning, and following the model of life Jesus Christ demonstrates through the Word of God.

So, what are you ten essentials for traveling through life?

Creating Community

Friday and Saturday there was a terrific seminar on C.S. Lewis that my husband and I attended. It was terrific to get a picture of the Inklings as amateurs; people who have a love and passion for something and give their all to it. The Inklings were a community of friends who supported each other and spurred one another on to greatness. They gathered around the ideas of their writings yet they also shared a deep Christian faith. Their community spanned twenty years of their lives, and stimulated the publication of such well known works as Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia and Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.


We had the privilege of visiting Oxford this past summer and had lunch in one of the Inklings favorite spots, the Eagle and the Child, which they often called the Bird and Baby. The pub had great food and atmosphere, but even more the evidence of a mystique regarding the former regulars. I watched and listened to the conversations among locals and visitors. There was definitely a sense of a place set apart. That was a great experience for me.

What can we learn from the elements of their community? How can our lives be enriched, not only from their wonderful writings, but by following their model for community?

Lifelong Learning

When are we considered too old for learning something new? Some people I have encountered are decades older than I and are still excited about learning new things. Some people are bored with life at an early age. What stimulates one and stifles another? These are considerations that fascinate me.