How Shall I Live for the Remainder of My Days?
When I look back over the past year and the moments that felt the most meaningful to me, it wasn’t when I ticked something off a list, or did something to impress others, it was something quieter:
A real conversation,
A moment of courage,
A time I showed up with kindness
Or was met with it.
We know, deep down, what makes life fulfilling and meaningful. But it’s so easy to lose touch with that as the days fill up as we begin the new year.
I am told there are 3 important days in your life:
The day you were Born
The day you realized Why
The day you Act on your Why.
I believe the purpose of each person’s life is living out the original contract with God, our Creator. At the end I hope I can say, “I came into this world and lived what I was called to live and gave what I was uniquely given to share with the world.” Or as St. Francis said on his deathbed, “I have done what is mine to do; may Christ teach you yours.”
Edward Albee was a famous American playwright who died at the age 88 in 2026 at his home in Montauk, N.Y. In his career he published over 50 plays and won three Pulitzer Prizes. His most well known work debuted in 1962 Broadway, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
In his last interview, Albee said that his plays are “correctives.” He saw himself as a kind of herald, perhaps a modern-day Cassandra, warning of the “unlived life.”
“All of my plays are about people missing the boat, closing down too young, coming to the end of their lives with regret at things not done, as opposed to things done. When we look back in life, it’s not so much what we have done but what we didn’t do when we had the chance because either we were cowards or preferred to play it safe. All of our regrets come from a lack of courage.” And he added, “I find most people spend too much time living as if they’re never going to die.”
Edward Albee was asked “When was his happiest time?” His answer: “Now. Always. It’s always NOW.”
As I am turning 68 this year, I want to do less of holding back, being too cautious, playing safe, being too concerned with approval of others and what others think of me. I want to live my life more authentically, being true to who I am, speaking my truth, and letting the chips fall where they may. I want to live more wholeheartedly by living the full expression of the truth of who I am to the best of my ability, with God’s help. As in the words of Megan Rapinoe, the former U.S. Women’s World Cup Champion, “We are here only for a while. Might as well have fun expressing yourself.” Oscar Wilde wrote, “Better a fallen rocket than never a burst of light.”
If you are a football fan, you live for the playoffs where the stakes are very high. If you win, you move on to the next round of playoffs, and if you lose, you go home. When players are interviewed they often say, “I leave everything on the field.” Which means no regrets after the game for I gave it all on the field. That’s a good metaphor for life. I like to think of my life as “Giving myself away.” Why not? We only go around once.
“Wherever you are is the entry point.”
~ Kabir, the 14th century Indian mystic and poet
John
Confirmation Class
Led by Pastor John with adult assistants
Five Consecutive Fridays in March @ 4 pm
(From 4th grade – middle school)
Confirmation is a ritual of rite of passage from childhood to adulthood into affirming what God has already done in their early baptism where God declared the child to be God’s own eternal, precious son/daughter of God. It is practiced by most major Christian denominations such as Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Protestant churches, including the United Methodist Church.
Confirmation Class in The United Methodist Church is a time of intentional preparation which gives teens the opportunity to reflect on the most basic tenets of our faith, and gives them a safe environment to ask questions and form their faith proclaimed by the church of Jesus Christ.
*Confirmation Service will be held on Easter Sunday, April 5, 10 am.
If you want your child to be enrolled in the class, please contact the church office.
