It Take Life to Love Life

BIBLICAL POINTS OF REFERENCE:

"Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained by a life that is just."

~Proverbs 16:31

"Therefore, we are not discouraged; rather, although our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day."

~2 Corinthians 4:16

Today I had the lovely opportunity to perform my monologue in my Acting class, a performance that I had been working on for a couple of weeks that was an epitaph (meaning the character is dead in the monologue) from Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters. What was really nice about this monologue is that I got to have a say in which one I performed, so after looking through all of these monologues about different people who lived in the fictional town of Spoon River in the early twentieth century, I decided upon Lucinda Matlock.

To give you some background on my character Lucinda, she died when she was ninety-six after living with her husband for seventy years and losing eight of her twelve children. Sounds kind of gloomy when I put it like that, but most of the monologue isn't even about what she lost--it's about what she did in life. It's about her role as a housewife and a woman, her time spent in nature, and her fond memories as a young girl at parties. And at the end, she says something extremely powerful: "It takes life to love Life."

Now what do you think she meant by that? I honestly had no clue until I analyzed exactly what was going on in my monologue, and now I think I have an idea.

How many of you are afraid to grow old? Or even to grow up and be an adult in the working world? If you're not in college, how many of you are afraid to taste that first bite of independence? Growing up and living is scary, right? And of course we don't want to have any regrets later. I am not nearly as old as Lucinda Matlock was when her life ended, but I think she knew a thing or two about how we should live.

To live is to bear the heartache that comes with loosing a loved one. To live is to remember that single happy memory that makes you smile every time you think about it. To live is to apply the lessons your parents, grandparents, and teachers taught you in ways you didn't know were possible. To live is to see the face of God in everyone and everything you pass on the way to school, work, or any other event. To live is to make the most of the precious time you are given. To live is to make the adventures you choose to go on worth it.

And when we have lived full and purposeful lives in the Lord, we know we will have touched others on their journey to living for Christ. The pain will be released from our souls, and the peace will flood in at our love for a life well served.

Maybe I'm not as old as Lucinda, but here is where I have found a connection to her and what she so wisely says at the end of her monologue: To love life, we must seize the chance to live it, and we must not be afraid of what it brings.

So don't be afraid to live. Don't be afraid to loose someone when their time here on earth is done. And don't be afraid to love life after you have lived it.

Your Laughing Sister,

Callahan

This article was written especially for Peter and Noreen Henrici, my beautiful church grandparents and lively souls of Christ.