What’s a snapshot of your life worth?

15. July 2008 by BruceSmith.

Reports are that high quality first pictures of babies Brangelina will fetch upwards of ten million bucks!  Yes, that’s right, a photo, a snapshot of Brad and Angelina’s babies will gross the shooter millions.  How is this possible? you might ask.  Well, because the popular interest in this story, and the numbers of tabloids which will be sold once those pics are included in a publication “merits” such a generous offer from the various publishers.  Whether or not such an “investment” from the publishers actually ends up making the company money remains to be seen.  More importantly, how any of this actually betters any of our lives, and actually merits our attention is highly questionable.

As the paparazzi hounds the Brangelina clan in the coming weeks, no doubt we will all be bombarded by incessant media coverage.  At some point, we will all be alerted that “the first pic” has been secured and some guy with nothing more to do with his life than to sneak around  capturing celeb photos will be made a millionaire over night. The guy or gal will probably be interviewed on every talk show imaginable and we will have made a celeb out of a celeb hunter.  I wonder if we are a bit wacky as a culture when we have gotten to this point.  It leaves me wondering how we define and place value on a life.

Last night I attended a memorial service for a woman, an unknown woman, a mother, wife, and community volunteer.  She was no celebrity, had no “fame”, and was not a magazine cover model.  Yet, on a Monday night, in smallish town America, several hundred people took time out of their lives to celebrate and remember the life of this woman, only 50 years old, who had just died of cancer.  Ann Dragna, as it turns out, had an enormous impact on the lives of untold numbers of people.  This woman who had committed herself to being an engaged wife, mother, and servant to many was remembered with great affection.  As the night went on and the celebration continued story after story was told by friends and loved ones.  Snapshots, photos, frozen moments in time were displayed in a presentation which captured the life of this woman over the years.  Of the several hundred people who were there, many standing the entire time, I don’t think there were very many who were not moved to tears.

As I sat there thinking about the life of this woman, my life, and where we are as a culture, a culture in which so few desire to live such lives of quiet heroism, I could not help but be captured by it all.  I was challenged in my spirit to consider that living a life worth something begins and ends with an embrace of God’s agenda for life.  We are not better human beings if we have paparazzi chasing after us all the time.  Our value is not determined by our fame or the fame of our family.  Our significance is not derived from our lavish lifestyle.  And our ultimate worth relies not upon the aesthetics of our frame.  Rather, our value is given us by a God who loves and esteems us as His creation.  Our importance stems from our desire to know Him and from our love of others.

As I sat there last night, wondering about my own death, I could not help but consider whether or not the snapshots of my own life would speak of goodness, beauty, servant-hood, honor, love, and grace.  Will people remember me for my “stuff” or will they remember me for my actual living?  Will those who attend my funeral, should anyone attend, feel as though the world was better because I was here?  Or will they just remember a man who was all about himself, his quests, and his own agenda?  Will folks remember how ruthless I was in “closing the deal” or will they be inspired by the nature of my intimacy with God?

I ask you today, “What do the snapshots of your life speak?”  What is their worth?  If the soul paparazzi were following you moment by moment, what would the photo presentation speak to others?  Last night Ann Dragna’s snapshots told of a woman who loved God, loved her husband, loved her kids, and loved others.  People, hundreds of them, celebrated her life even amidst her death because she touched them in such a meaningful way.  Person after person told of her care, honesty, joy, humor, compassion, and friendship.  Our community, our church, and our world are better because she was here.  Those who knew her are bettered by being in touch with her.

What is your life worth?  When you breathe your last will people celebrate because you are gone (a very sad thought) or will they celebrate because you lived, and lived beautifully?  What is the message of your life’s snapshots?  Are you even present in the snapshots of those closest to you?  Does the scrapbook tell of your presence with your family?  Or are you gone so often chasing your own agenda that you rarely even “appear” in the photos of your family? Will your family remember you because of your nearness?

I pray for you and I that we might live lives worthy of a great sendoff.  I pray that others might feel as though they were blessed to have had a little time with us.  I pray that when our last breath has been taken our lives  and legacy live on in the hearts of others.

May God give us grace to walk in a manner worthy of such a life.  May will live as heroes of His grace whether we do it in the front of a camera or in the quietness of unknown communities all across America.  May the snapshots of our lives capture the love and affections of many as they tell of the splendour of an amazing God.

Bruce Smith

optimuslife.org

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