It appears my Bucket List is in serious need of a re-write. There were and there are many things I would like to do in the remainder of my life. Those who know me, know not only do I look quite a bit ahead, I also frequently have a scheduled idea of what I would like to do, and when I would like to do it. One associate pastor with whom I served, said she had never seen anyone like me who seemed to live in the future. An interesting comment about someone who greatly appreciates looking back through the lens of history.
Yes, our current COVID crisis seems to have messed with my schedule. Now I’m going to have to live a couple more years longer than I had planned so I can advance my Bucket List itinerary. More vegetables, less beef. More walking and swimming.
As I thought about all this I was forced to realize, of course, the pandemic is “less interruption and more disruption” as one of my colleagues likes to say. That is, we are not in a period of intermission where we will soon return as we were. Our lives will be changed permanently. What changes will take place is anyone’s guess but an even greater emphasis on technology seems, in general, to be quite likely.
I have also been forced to realize this is not at all about me. Everyone’s life has been affected. Everyone’s life will be changed. Everyone may need to fine tune their Bucket List. As one who is fond of saying, “If you want to make God laugh, tell God your plans,” I am now forced to heed my own words. Plans and goals are good. Yet plans and goals are also hopes and not blueprints for exactly what will happen and how it will occur.
This brings people like myself….disciples of the Bucket List….back to being disciples of Jesus. Life for followers of Jesus is not a Bucket List tally sheet. Life for followers of Jesus is first and foremost a calling. It is a calling to follow. It is a calling to serve. In baptism we were claimed by God and called to live like a member of God’s family.
Our COVID crisis may mess with our Bucket List, but it did not mess with God’s call for us to serve God by serving others.
My Bucket List will need serious editing. Perhaps the list itself will have to go or at least become much more generalized. In its place I need to put a “Buck it up List”. I need to buck up and remember who I am. I am a child of God. Regardless of the state of my Bucket List, my status with God will not change. I need to buck up and remember what I am called to do: Live out the Good News God both gives and entrusts to me.
Fortunately for me, and for all of us. God does not have a Bucket List for us. In Jesus Christ we see God gives us the freedom to be ourselves. God has no tally sheet or scorecard for us. God has Jesus Christ for us. So, go ahead, plan, hope, schedule; but above all love, care, and serve. Make sure that part is on any Bucket List plans you might have.