Food for Thought: What's on Your Bucket List?
by Ardith Hoff
Not everyone has a bucket list naming the things they most want to do before they die, but maybe we should. In the movie “Bucket List” a band of old friends decided to get together and do all of the stuff they had on their list. Their list was: To witness something truly majestic; Help a complete stranger; Laugh until I cry; Drive a Shelby Mustang; Kiss the most beautiful girl in the world; Get a tattoo; Go Skydiving; Visit Stonehenge; Drive a motorcycle on the Great Wall of China; Go on a Safari; Visit the Taj Mahal; Sit on the Great Egyptian Pyramids; and Find the Joy in your life.
Some of the things on the list seem like worthy goals and some are downright ridiculous and dangerous for old men to try. Yet, in the movie, they did them all, even though some items might not have been accomplished in the way the men originally anticipated. For example, (spoiler alert) in a final scene, one of the men thought he would never complete the list by kissing the most beautiful girl in the world or finding joy in his life. To his surprise, he found both when he reunited with his estranged daughter and was able to kiss her beautiful baby daughter.
Bill Kerley reported having read an article titled "100 Things To Do Before You Die” and was surprised that "Yell for help" wasn't one of them. Houston Chronicle, 2/25/18, p. G14
We might not all need to “yell for help”, but I think we would all be better off if we paused to pray for help before we even start a bucket list. If we put “Do God's Will” at the top of the list, it is much more likely to make our lists more meaningful. It is when our goals are based on following God’s plans that we are most likely to find true joy. When we seek pleasure in the things of this world, we sometimes take great risks and experience great exhilaration, but the trills are short lived and the memories soon fade.
“Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” 1 Corinthians 15:58
The poet C.T. Studd got it right when he wrote: “Only one life, ’twill soon be past; only what’s done for Christ will last.”