There are many lessons we learn in life of course, but these three stuck out to me.
1. Life is short
Funerals have a way of making you realise your mortality. When I wrote this article in early July I had just attended the funeral of a friend of ours who had lived across the street from us for a number of years and who we had regular contact with. The husband walked out the side door of his garage the previous Sunday morning and dropped dead. Completely unexpected. The following day our next door neighbour’s husband died. Although he had been in a rest-home due to his dementia, nevertheless it was earlier than expected. Then our neighbour’s cat, a shy but lovely animal and one I look after when they go away, died suddenly (cause unknown). Not a good week.
I have been collating family photographs for a family event and one soon sees how people change over time – and yet I still think I can do things I could do 20, 30, 40 years ago. I can’t.
What it has caused me to do, however, is putting more priority on the important things in life. What sort of legacy do I want my children/grandchildren to be left with. Not the material things, but the things that matter. I want my grandchildren to commit their lives to Christ, my children and grandchildren to value relationships over and above just thinking of their future. To know that the best things in life cannot be bought – love, peace, joy, etc.
2. I live because of what others have given me
As I reflect on my life I realise just how much I have been given. And it has become more pronounced as Karen and I have raised our family and the sheer number and amount of things that one does for your children to prepare them for so many different aspects of life. Ensuring their education by sitting with them reading, going through their homework, helping with maths. And that is small compared to the sacrifices you make in transporting them to all sorts of sports events, school activities and even teaching them to drive.
I then reflected on my parents and their uprooting themselves and leaving their homeland to start a better life for their family in New Zealand. Not only did my Mum birth me, but agreed to travelling six weeks on a ship from Holland with four young children, me being number three aged 18 months, to meet her husband who had gone ahead of her to start a job and build a home. No relatives of any sort to support them in a land where they did not speak their native tongue.
I was given food, a roof over my head, opportunities to play various sports and given a good education. I was brought up in a Catholic environment attending Mass each Sunday and lived out at home as best they knew how.
This all comes down to sacrifice. Which of course as a Christian resonates with what Jesus has done for us. We can only speculate as to what it really cost him to humble himself to come and live among us and then to suffer for My (our) sake so that our sins are forgiven, and we can enter into a new life. There is nothing I could do and certainly no way I can buy any of this – it is a sheer GIFT.
3. I trust because I am trusted
It takes a long time to gain someone’s trust. But it can be lost very quickly and then it is a hard road to re-establish it. In my nearly four decades in business I have seen this played out many times and trust is something that I always strived hard to maintain. Jesus said to go the extra mile. And that certainly is an approach that brings rewards. My father once told me how he borrowed a friend’s bike. He gave it a thorough clean before returning it. The friend told him he could borrow his bike any time. I have followed his advice and had the same experience.
You and I want to be regarded as trustworthy people. We want those near and dear to us to be able to trust us with money, with confidential information, with staying true to our word, and other things.
One of the wonderful things of the Christian faith is that God wants to trust us. That starts by us committing our lives to Him. To put our trust in Him. And the more we learn to trust Him the more we are able to trust others. Why? Because ultimately it is the Lord who is in charge of our lives.
As we walk together on the road He has called us on let us be mindful of making the most of our time, be grateful for the many people in our lives who have been part of what makes us who we are, and may we grow in both trustworthiness and trustfulness.
Your brother on the journey
Andre Geelen
This reflection by Andre Geelen was first published in The Lamb of God Chronicle Newsletter, September 2024 edition. Used with permission.
Top image credit: Vineyard overview with mountains in background in Marlborough area New Zealand, from Bigstock.com, © by CreativeNaturePhotography, stock photo ID: 273194509. Used with permission.
I was raised in a strong Catholic family in New Zealand with Dutch and Russian parents and have six siblings. Although a regular Mass goer it was not until the late 1960’s when I encountered the Catholic Charismatic Renewal whilst a university student in Auckland that my life radically changed. It was also soon after this that I met my wife Karen, who was a Baptist at that time. We have five adult children and nine grandchildren and have been married for 52 years. We have been involved in the charismatic renewal since our first encounter and helped found a covenant community in 1982 in Napier. Some 10 years later it became part of the Lamb of God Covenant community. I serve as a local Community leader as well as on the National Council and Karen on the National Women’s leadership team. I am now semi-retired from an over 40 year career in horticultural research. I volunteer with Christian Lovelink, an ecumenical group serving the poor with material needs such as furniture, bedding etc, which have been donated primarily by Christians. I am still an active tennis player and help coach youngsters. We have known the faithfulness of the Lord through the many highs and lows of life and the Community and our local Parish continue to be a central focus of our service to the Lord.
Very true dear Andre,
The 3 lessons you mentioned help us keep focused on our Final Goal: to meet JESUS and live eternally in His Kingdom, once our short earthly life come to an end.