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Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life
by Tom Kelley
I believe it was Andy Warhol who once said that everyone would have their fifteen minutes of fame. At least. There are those for whom fame just seems to follow them around and land on them from time to time. Then there are those who actively seek it. Those whose lives are spent in the vanity of finding the limelight, finding that one moment which can be milked for all its worth until they feel that the world finally understands just how great they truly are.
Sadly, those limelight seekers are the ones who subscribe to what the advertisers and programmers on television are selling them. Live life to the fullest. By the way, here's how you do it. All you have to do is drink a lot, act like a jerk and go in debt up to your eyeballs to purchase all the neat stuff that will make you seem successful to others. Do that and you'll be famous. Do that and you'll have the spotlight. Do that and you'll set yourself apart from all the other ham'n'eggers whose lives don't mean diddly.
Life that is lived totally for self is life that is wasted. A full life is not one of self-indulgence. A full life is not constantly reaching for that brass ring. (for those of you who don't understand the concept behind reaching for the brass ring, old time carousels used to have a fixture on them which dispensed a brass ring to those who were brave enough to sit on the outside ring of horses and reach out at the proper time to stick their finger into the ring and grasp it...some rather severe injuries resulted from this practice so it was abandoned amidst a swirl of lawsuits...a very fitting metaphor of the way some live their lives)
Living a full life involves making the wisest use of what talents and resources you have available to benefit the greatest number of people by doing that which you and others didn't really think you could do. Fame is fleeting, but appreciation for a life well lived isn't. A life spent for others is an investment. The late Jim Valvano, championship basketball coach of North Carolina State University, once said, "That's what I want—not the money but the whole thing; the energy, the life, and the love for life. I want it all spent."
But how do you invest it so that you're not grabbing for the brass ring but humbly being what others need? "For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' " Galatians 5:13, 14 In Christ, your life has been given back to you to live however you want; but want to live it like the Christ, for others.
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...He was the Minister of the Minorsville Christian Church located near Stamping Ground, KY.
...Becky and Tom have three children; John, single and in worship ministry in Nicholasville, Kentucky; Sean, married (Jennifer, elementary school teacher) with twins (Grace and Patrick, b.d. 10/31/04) and regional director of Papa John's Pizza in Central KY; Kara, married (Vince Taylor, prison guard) and working with Hospice East in Winchester, KY.
...Tom went to be with the Lord on November 13, 2009 after a lengthy battle with cancer. If you have been touched by Tom's writings please send an email to Tom's son at jkelley@catalystchristian.net
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