#23- Life Is Not About......
by Cory MacNeil

Life is not about the deer!  There, I feel better now because I've been wanting to say that all week.  Let me explain.  Last weekend my son was watching an old, old, old video of my deceased grandfather along with my dad and a friend watching herds of deer being fed corn in the depths of winter.  Naturally, the deer were the stars of the show....back then that is, now that my grandfather is gone I kept praying the cameraman would stop videoing the deer and get some shots of my grandfather.  Eventually he did and I saw him alive once more!  Thus, I want to say it's not about the deer.

Fast forward a couple of days and I learned that a man famous in the world of deer hunting died at the age of 60 in his sleep.  Ugggg.  Lane Benoit was not only a great deer hunter, but bubbling over with life and enthusiasm.  Again, it's not about the deer.  We were at the Big E in Springfield and we asked Lane for directions to one of the booths.  He started to explain then just said "Follow me!."  How can you not like that kind of guy?

Chances are you don't hunt deer.  But are there any things that have gotten your attention other than people.  I realize people can be a real pain in the neck and all, but each one of us is a miracle.  Anyone who has lost a friend or loved one knows exactly what I'm talking about.

Fast forward to last night.  I was listening to Rob Bell's first podcast called Robcast and he talked about how Moses walked by the bush and it was burning.  Rob said some people believe it was always burning, it was just the first time Moses noticed it.  I don't care what you think about that take to be perfectly honest.  But I have noticed that you can go through life and never see the miracles all around you.  In fact, people are like burning bushes that we never take notice of.  Why?  Because we never notice the obvious.  We're blind that way.

After this week's events I just wanted to go to the Jesus room and worship for awhile.  That's a good thing.  SO into the living room I went and sat in front of the burning bush for awhile and it was GLORIOUS!

Fast forward some more to tomorrow.  Tomorrow I head for a cruise to the Bahamas with four amazing people- my family.  I'm sooo looking forward to spending some major quality and quantity time with the loves of my life.  Never before have I appreciated my family as much as I do in these latter seasons.  We even went the extra mile and got a balcony!  Why?  Because I care more about my family than I do the money.

Speaking of seasons, I've reached a new one myself.  In my new season I'm going to be ME.  You can take me or leave me.  Either way, I'll still love you.

So, in the days to come, you will agree or disagree with me.

In the days to come, you will love me and hate me sometimes.

In the days to come, you will criticize my work and look right past me most of the time, but I'm not going to keep my light under a bushel basket.

In the days to come, you may not see or talk to me before I go home to glory, but I promise you this.  One day you will cry when you attend or hear about my funeral and I'll do the same when I hear about yours.

Tweet this: "I'm ready for the 2.0 version of myself and I hope the world is too!"

SO what I'm doing today is this.  I'm not dead (yet) so every day I want to do the things that would make me cry at my own funeral if I were to die today.  Complicated, I know, but I think we're onto something.

Paul said: "I die daily".  I think he realized how immanent death was and lived each moment to the fullest in close connection with a personal God who loved him beyond measure.  You see, it's not so much about death as it is life.  Life is not about stuff or things, or trophies, it's about God and people.  Everything is going to burn up one day, but we last FOREVER, SOMEWHERE!  As Steve Brown would say: "You think about that!".

Getting back to the deer, I'm the guy sitting farthest back in the row and the others are family and friends.  I'll admit I still like getting a deer.  But what's more important are the guys in the photo with me.  They're one of a kind, genuine, special, kind- they're my friends.  They're the ones I may miss someday, not the deer.  Deer are temporary- souls are eternal.  So again, I want to say life is not about the deer- they're just the consolation prize.