What Will You Do With Your Line?

   Earlier today, I decided to watch Glee's tribute to Cory Monteith. Glee used to be one of the shows I watched all the time, and Cory's character, Finn Hudson, was my absolute favorite. His character had a calm, yet leading spirit, that I really liked, and even wanted to emulate in my own life. I saw that calm assurance, peace with strength spirit as one that I wanted myself.
   Anyways, although I really liked the character and felt bad about this untimely death, that is not what struck me most about the episode. Yes, I was emotional; yes, I thought it was terrible that he died, but one simple conversation from the show halted me in my tracks. In the episode, the character Puckerman looked at a plaque that had Finn's birth year to death written out as such: 1994-2013. After that, the character said,"You know what's tripping me out? This line between the two years. That's his whole life. Everything that happened was in that line." The woman he was talking to just replied back, "What are you gonna do with your line now Puckerman?"
   What are you gonna do with your line? Wow, what a line! All I could think about was the fact that we really only get that short little line. Regardless of how long we get, 20 years, 50 years, 70 years, the time between that line really is not that long. Everything that happens in our life will be in that short little line period. This especially struck me because it made me think, if my life ended tomorrow, I would have only had 21 years in that line. All I would have to show is what I've done in that time. No second chances, no redo's, no chance to get to do something I had not attempted yet. Each day, each moment, is a time we will never get back. I wondered, would I be satisfied with what I've done so far? Yes, I've accomplished some of my goals, but there are still things I want to do. There are still a lot of things that I want to accomplish in my lifetime. It made me think too, am I doing enough to accomplish those goals? Am I living my life in a way that I could say I used the line I was given effectively? Especially since no one knows how much of a line they will get.
   So why do so many of us live each moment in mediocrity? Why do so many of us go through life just being normal, and not trying to reach our dreams? Why do so many of us "wait til tomorrow" to make things right with people we may be at odds with? Why do we live like we have all the time in the world? The answer has to do with the fact that many of us ignore the line. We ignore the fact that life is not something we are guaranteed. Every day is a gift. I'm not using this blog to bash anybody, by the way, all of the things I have said could be pointed right back at me. There have been moments and days that I have wasted. Yes, I have tried to be futuristic, and focus on what is important, but I have had moments when I failed to realize how important it was to live wisely with the "line" we are given.
   The Bible even says in James 4:14,"Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." None of us know what is coming next. For those of you who have lost someone you care about, how many times do you think, "If only I could have....", and you fill in the blanks with something that you will never get to do? I know I've done that. There are many times I think, if only I could drive my Pawpaw to church one more time.  Yet, his time is over. He may have lived a long life by our standards, but if you think about it, even if you die in your 70's, your life is just a vapor.
  So, what are you going to do with the line you get? It's a gift, but it's up to you to do something with it. Everything that is going to happen will happen in that line...no matter how long or short that line happens to be.