Christian Living

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Larry Lilly's Letter Thursday April 8, 2010

I often note in these letters the wonder of the theory of success and more often note the experience of failure. Truth be known these two opposites would be the theme of most humans. I read a statement earlier this AM while listening to the Irish Tenors. My quote for today comes not from an Irishman, but from a famous Italian. Some would say, "The" Italian.

"The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short, but is setting our aim too low and achieving our mark."

Our Italian philosopher was also world class in the realm of art and sculptor; Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni. To say he set his aim high is understatement. His life story reads somewhat like a NCI television drama. I recall Joyce and I attended the World's Fair in New York City in 1964 just prior to our marriage and while there we stood in awe at Michelangelo's Pieta. We knew little about him or his work, but I recall weeping for reasons I knew not. Joyce did the same.

One of the secrets of Michelangelo is there is no record of him stating, "There, that is good enough for government work."

I recently renewed a friendship with a boyhood friend. As we talked about events of years ago, I was moved deeply by his humble description of his life over the last fifty years. He had married at 18 and he and his wife celebrated their Golden Jubilee with a two day trip to New York City, all of 95 miles away. They had never visited the Pearl of the West. He had worked the same job since high school and he and the Mrs. had raised four of their six children, two had walked on early in their life. The small Jim Walter home they had built 49 years was finally mortgage free.

It is unlikely that the story of their life would make a best seller, but when several things are factored in their story is near miraculous. Both were born to grinding poverty, with drunken fathers and mothers near mutilated as humans. My friend's mother had hit his father in the head with an axe as he lay in a drunken stupor having molested the 5 year old sister. The father lived, the mother was sentenced to the Women's Prison for two years. Etc. Sometimes miracles do not appear so at first glance, but upon further inspection… Miracles are gauged not by where a person is in life, but where they came from to get there. Bob told me that he and the wife are thankful for life, but they had hoped to be more up the ladder. He had higher aspirations. He has what many would call a dream life.

Paul wrote in Philippians 3:14 "I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."

Larry Lilly Copyright © 2010 Use with credit

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