Jim Preisig

Die Empty

Michael Hyatt described a conversation with a friend from South Africa who offered an incredible insight and challenge.

 

“Do you know what the most valuable land in the world is?” the man asked. Most assume diamond mines or oil fields.

 

“No,” the South African replied, “it’s the graveyard, because with all of those people are buried unfulfilled dreams, unwritten novels, masterpieces not created, businesses not started, relationships not reconciled. THAT is the most valuable land in the world.”

 

The comment trigged more than a thought for Hyatt – it became a mandate: die empty.

 

He summed it up this way: “While it may sound intimidating, it was actually very freeing because I was suddenly aware that it’s not my job to control the path of my career or what impact I may or may not have on the world. My only job—each and every day—is to empty myself, to do my daily work, and to try as much as possible to leave nothing unspoken, uncreated, unwritten.”

 

What about you? What do you refuse to leave unwritten, unspoken, undone before you die?

 

 

Loyalty Revisited

Last weekend I spoke of loyalty.

This is from the New York Times Website, and it captures the sense of love communitated by great loyalty:

A Dog at the Funeral Captured on Video

By ANAHAD O'CONNOR

A video of a dog apparently mourning the death of his owner at a funeral has gone viral, prompting an outpouring from viewers around the world.

The footage was captured by a woman whose cousin Jon Tumilson, a member of a Navy Seal team, was killed in Afghanistan when his Chinook helicopter was hit by enemy fire on Aug. 6. A funeral service was held for Mr. Tumilson in Rockford, Iowa, last week and attended by 1,500 people.

But also in attendance was Mr. Tumilson’s loyal Labrador retriever, Hawkeye. The dog wandered over to his owner’s flag-draped casket and lay beside it throughout the service.

 

Love and Loyalty

There is a wonderful scene in the movie, The Titanic, that I described in worship this weekend. It is unforgettable. The scene shows Isidor Straus cuddling with his wife in bed as the water slowly rises in their stateroom.

 

To fully grasp the stark beauty of the scene you need to understand the historical facts.

(Isidor & Ida Straus)

 

Isidor Straus, co-owner of Macy’s department store, refused available places in the lifeboats so long as women and children were still on the sinking ship. He encouraged his beloved wife, Ida, to take her place of safety, but she adamantly refused.

 

The New York Times quoted a survivor’s account of the Straus’ conversation on the deck of the Titanic: “Mr. Straus was urging his wife toward the boat. She was insisting on remaining with him.” Another paper described how an officer attempted to lead her to safety, “but she brushed away his arm and clung to her husband, crying ‘I will not go without you.”

 

The 1958 movie, A Night to Remember, captured the scene perfectly; better, in fact, than the 1997 version. After refusing the pleading of other passengers, Ida stands on the deck and says, “I’ve always stayed with my husband. So why should I leave him now.”

 

Speaking then to her husband, her final words in the movie are a quote from the book of Ruth: “We have been living together for many years.” she said serenely. “Where you go, I will go.”

 

Loyalty, you see, is an expression of love.

 

 

 

 

Thoughts on Loyalty

Is it possible that loyalty is one of the few essentials in every true relationship?

 

Perhaps we don’t think about it, and in an age of cynicism we may even doubt it, but isn’t every true relationship dependent on loyalty?

 

Without loyalty is there ever true love?

 

Without loyalty can there be genuine family?

 

Without loyalty is there authentic friendship?

 

In fact, without loyalty can there be any real community?

 

Is it any wonder then, that for Dante, the deepest recesses of hell are reserved for those who are disloyal – traitors to family, friend, and country?

 

What do you think?

 

If loyalty is an essential in life, what about you? Are you loyal and true to those you love? Can they tell stories of your fidelity?

 

A Question of Loyalty

Here is something to ponder: In the age of Linked In and Facebook, what sort of loyalty is left among people? Is a friendship fragile if hyperlinks are the only glue? Is a friendship true if you only text?

 

This weekend we are tackling the topic of loyalty in a continuation of our Value Vacuum preaching series and it has forced me to do some serious thinking on loyalty in the scriptures, in my life, in our shared life together. I’ve come to some interesting conclusions.

 

I’ll share those in worship this weekend, but in anticipation I thought you might like the opportunity to reflect on the passages from the Bible that have shaped my thinking. Here they are, from the Message – Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase of the Word:

 

 

⁹It’s better to have a partner than go it alone.

Share the work, share the wealth.

¹⁰And if one falls down, the other helps,

But if there’s no one to help, tough!

¹¹Two in a bed warm each other.

Alone, you shiver all night.

¹²By yourself you’re unprotected.

With a friend you can face the worst.

Can you round up a third?

A three-stranded rope isn’t easily snapped.

(Ecclesiastes  4:9-12)

 

¹⁵Naomi said, “Look, your sister-in-law is going back home to live with her own people and gods; go with her.”

¹⁶But Ruth said, “Don’t force me to leave you; don’t make me go home. Where you go, I go; and where you live, I’ll live. Your people are my people, your God is my god; ¹⁷where you die, I’ll die, and that’s where I’ll be buried, so help me God—not even death itself is going to come between us!”

(Ruth 1:15-18)

³¹Then Jesus told them, “Before the night’s over, you’re going to fall to pieces because of what happens to me. There is a Scripture that says,

I’ll strike the shepherd;

helter-skelter the sheep will be scattered.

³²But after I am raised up, I, your Shepherd, will go ahead of you, leading the way to Galilee.”

³³Peter broke in, “Even if everyone else falls to pieces on account of you, I won’t.”

³⁴“Don’t be so sure,” Jesus said. “This very night, before the rooster crows up the dawn, you will deny me three times.”

³⁵Peter protested, “Even if I had to die with you, I would never deny you.” All the others said the same thing.

Matthew 26:31-35;

 

⁶⁹All this time, Peter was sitting out in the courtyard. One servant girl came up to him and said, “You were with Jesus the Galilean.”

⁷⁰In front of everybody there, he denied it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

⁷¹As he moved over toward the gate, someone else said to the people there, “This man was with Jesus the Nazarene.”

⁷²Again he denied it, salting his denial with an oath: “I swear, I never laid eyes on the man.”

⁷³Shortly after that, some bystanders approached Peter. “You’ve got to be one of them. Your accent gives you away.”

⁷⁴Then he got really nervous and swore. “I don’t know the man!”

Just then a rooster crowed. ⁷⁵Peter remembered what Jesus had said: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” He went out and cried and cried and cried.

Matthew 26:69-75