Bucket list…

-“The three grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, someone to love, something to hope for.”

–Alexander Chalmers

-Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

–Colossians 3: 1-2

-bucket list (def.): a list of experiences or achievements that a person hopes to have or accomplish during their lifetime

When I was in my mid-20s and a newly-minted Christian, we had a guest speaker at our church who challenged us to write out 100 things we wanted to do before we died. For him, he claimed, this activity had been life-changing, and he regaled us with tales of his many exploits, including, of course, skydiving. To this day, I can’t remember all how that exercise was connected to faith or sharing Jesus. Nevertheless, once home, I unearthed a blank notebook (and my favorite pen), and went to town…until #17.

It wasn’t the content of #17 that made me stop. I had simply paused to take a breather and review the items already scrawled out…

Ugh.

I shook my head. “This is lame. This is pointless. This is doing absolutely NOTHING for me. Sure, these are all ‘nice to haves’ and ‘nice to dos,’ but would I regret missing out on any of them?”

The answer was a definitive, resounding NO…the page ripped out and consigned to the “circular file.”

Years later, out came the movie The Bucket List, where I watched two men fulfill a bucketload of dreams, and I cried a bucketload of ugly tears. In this bittersweet, beautiful buddy film, it wasn’t the adventures (including skydiving) that moved and inspired me, but the development of an incredibly poignant friendship between a very odd couple…although, I acknowledge, if they would’ve just sat around talking and drinking coffee (harvested from civet droppings!), it wouldn’t have been very riveting, from an action standpoint. Hollywood demands both the heart and the epic escapade.

Me, I’ll always choose a stamp on my heart over one in my passport.

There are probably people who feel that I’m “selling my life short,” “you only go around once,” and, blech, “FOMO.”

I have one answer…

My friend “Kate.”

“Kate” was diagnosed in February with stage-4 pancreatic cancer. The original prognosis was three to six months, but subsequent tests revealed that it is more treatable…meaning more time.

Praise God.

Her kids sat her down and asked, “So, where are we traveling? Where else do you want to go?”

Her reply, “I want to spend time with the people I love.”

Instead of a bucket list, she has a f*** it list…letting go of things, relationships, a job that were adding no value to her life and a great deal of stress…

Leaving more room, more headspace, more resources for what’s really, truly important.

Love.

And she is living so exquisitely, with equal parts equanimity and humor, even in the crappy periods that are part of the process…loving and being loved, sharing moments, making memories.

The answer to the question, “Why am I here?”

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” John 13: 34-35

So, I have my own version of a bucket list now.

Isaiah 6:8–Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

Every morning, I set an empty bucket before my God and lift my hands and say, “Lord, fill me up with Your good, good love, and write upon my heart a list of people who need it poured on them today…because today is all I have!…people that I know, that I meet, that You place in front of me (don’t let me miss them!). That’s why I’m here…

To share Your love and share You.

Here am I…bucket at the ready…

Send me.”