Why Men have Mid-Life Crisis Issues . . .
We were invited to a New Years gathering at a friend of a friend's house. And so five hours were spent in the midst of a God-honoring family. I really needed to be there, and witness the comings and goings.
On Friday, I attended the funeral of a too-young man who died in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan. Funerals don't minister to the dead, but rather to the living. I really needed to be there to witness the ebb and flow of the remembrance -- how others saw this man's life.
As Ebenezer Scrooge was escorted by Christmas ghosts, to soften a hard heart, I am being conducted through life experiences to help my grasp of the meaning of life. And a softening of a often-hard heart is part of the experience. Like a marathon runner who meets "the wall" at mile 21, or perhaps at mile 23, men invariably meet with a crisis of direction and destiny. They lose track of life's meaning. So those around them -- those who look to men to fulfill a leadership role -- similarly cascade downward. Alas, genders are not as separated as we sometimes like to think.
Hidden in the Psalm 24 hymn of praise (v7-v10) is a question that incited frenzied joy of the saints – that compelled the saints to rapturous shouting with the angels – “Who is this King of Glory?”. It is the same question Jesus would earlier ask . . . “Who do men say that I am ? Who do you say that I am ?” It is life’s most important question. It is the question that truly merits a lifelong seeking to discover and know the answer.
--- excerpted from Arrival of the King - His Glorious Appearing
Perhaps the rich symbolism of the
Wizard of Oz can help us. Dorothy represents each one of us. After a long journey, a returning home Dorothy finally discovered that it was there all the time. She -- as we -- ultimately discover that all the answers have always been within easy reach. It was in the seeking that she found.
