20/20 Vision

Today, as I drove to the grocery store, I saw a man wearing a Walter Payton football jersey. As I drove past him, I thought back to my youth to a time where I really enjoyed watching football with my dad and to a time where sports figures exuded refinement.

Thinking about Walter Payton and remembering how he passed away in 1999 at the age of 45 from a rare liver disease, I wondered about how we spend our lives. I thought about Mr. Payton at his death and wondered how he lived. I thought about Mother Teresa and how she lived. I thought about her death. My thoughts then turned to myself, "When I die, what will it all matter? How much do I love?"

For the next mile to the grocery store, my thoughts swirled in contemplation. I stopped at the bank, then the store. There, I ran into our eye doctor who with feigned shock pretended not to recognize me without all of the children.

"What, you're alone? And you're here at the store when you have free time? You should be having your hair done! (I wonder if he meant brushed?). You should be having a manicure!"

I leaned toward him and simply said, "You know, I've decided that the most important thing for me is how much I love." There was no accusation in my tone. I simply said it with a smile on my face and a slight touch to his arm. Then, I paused.

Nodding his head, he agreed.

Picking up the conversation, I then said, "I was just thinking about these types of things on my drive here to the store."

We resumed our chitchat and he reiterated his point that I need time to myself.

And I do.

But before we finished our conversation, I mentioned that I do get alone time and when I get it, I chose to use it in prayer and in quiet or praying while I exercise.

He thought that that those were valuable ways to spend that time.

I know for me, they're necessary.

Exchanging good-byes, we left on good terms and on the return trip home, I thought about this encounter and how it all began with a football jersey and Mother Teresa, but more deeply, I focused on how important Christ's vision of morality really is, and how the practical applications of my loving and how my desires to love are the most important lenses to use in trying to reflect the love of Christ.