Christian Living

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Larry Lilly's Letter Wednesday August 3, 2011

Several years ago (More than twenty) I heard Earl Nightingale talk about the difference between a goal oriented person and what he dubbed a "river" person. He uses Albert Schweitzer as the role model for a river person.

We all understand to some degree at least what makes a goal oriented person tick, but the river directed person seems to be ignored or seldom alluded to as a role model for a number of reasons.

Some very intensely driven people are a combination of both goal and river people. They seem to be the most enduring and long term students of life and living.

I stumbled across this gem from an actress that I do not recall as a paragon of virtue but was more on target than many clergypersons in her understanding of this life and the dynamics thereof. She said: "To fulfill a dream, to be allowed to sweat over lonely labor . . . is the meat and potatoes of life. The money is the gravy."

Bette Davis stated the above and I believe she hit the nail on the head.

In the tumultuous times in which we live everyday people drop out of what they were doing, many who stated they felt they had found their life work, using such phrases, "It just wasn't what I thought," or "The rewards were not commiserate with the labor." On a more intimate level, "He/She just doesn’t meet my needs. I know I took him/her for better or worse, but he/she is worse than I took him/her for."

The river person is utterly convinced that they are immersed in their river of life, of meaning and the doing of the labor is reward enough. Money, fame or accolades are incidental, or as Bette stated, "The gravy."

Too many folks mistakenly think the hunt for the gravy is what life is all about and they miss the blessing of the basics of the Christian life, essentially walking with Jesus and enjoying being a co-laborer or biblically a yokefellow with Christ. As the quote from Bette Davis shows, the river principle is found in all walks of life, and can be enjoyed in the work to which you are totally committed. I knew an insurance agent who was employed by a worldwide company. He lived in a small town in Southwest Virginia. When you walked into his office, built adjoining his home, there were no trophies proclaiming his best at this or that, no VIP signs, just a sincere man who tried to meet your insurance needs via the policies his company offered. He was never salesman of the month or year. When he died it was discovered by his widow that over forty years he had sold more policies than any man in the entire company. He was like Old Man River, he just rolled along and enjoyed the trip.

Jesus made a River statement in John 4:34 "Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work."

Larry Lilly Copyright © 2011 Use with credit

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