This season of life, characterized by major life decisions and newfound independence, is one in which a person is constantly teetering between the nostalgia of childhood and the uncertainty-laden void that is the future. All this while maintaining a constant presence in current endeavors that shape the very outcome of one's life. It’s all very complicated.
This season of life has a way of sneaking up on you in the form of existential breakdowns and late-night sessions of overthinking. Recently, the culminating reality of my present stage in life hit me. I may or may not have had some sort of existential epiphany brought on by the series finale of "Gilmore Girls." Fiction has this ability to catch you off guard and make you question your life choices, don’t you know. But, that’s neither here nor there.
Now, before I get in too deep let me say that I am not devoid of thought when it comes to where I’m headed and where I’ve been. I don’t need some sort of reality check or slap in the face to ponder life. It is actually quite the opposite. If anything, I tend to overanalyze everything. However, the show set my mind in motion regarding the next few months, and the next few years of my life.
This season of life brings about so many firsts and experiences that shape the remainder of your life. In the next few years my peers and I will be pursuing higher education, taking on internships, building relationships, graduating, beginning our careers, getting married and raising families. These are the last few moments leading up to the cataclysmic event called "the rest of our lives" where we will leave either a positive or a negative mark on society and on the world.
Woah.
So, just as Rory experienced at the end of season seven, the rest of our lives are closer than we would like to realize and now is the time to lay the groundwork for the inevitable. This brings me to another point, a point of greater significance than our lives on this earth, one of eternal impact. What exactly are we placing value in and what final destination are we preparing for?
In Matthew 6:19-21 the Scriptures say, “’Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.’”
As we pursue our dreams and build our legacies we must also consider where it all would be and where we would be should it all come to an unforeseen end. Are the things that we place value in and spend all our energy on things that will wither and rust or are they things of an eternal importance and worth?
So, have your adventure, climb your mountains, head westward and suck all the marrow out of life, but don’t get caught up in this world and what it offers. Instead live through the perspective of redemptive grace and savor the full richness of life the way it was meant to be experienced—with God.
This season of life is beautiful and scary in all its complexities and we should savor it and experience it for all it’s worth, but we should not let our drive and ambitions outweigh what really matters. We must endeavor to find perspective, even if it is sparked by a visit to Stars Hollow.
