Happy on the range

The Rangers won! They're off to the World Series for the first time. We watched the end of the game with a bunch of strangers. Most of them were sitting around the bar surrounded by screens, and we were at a table nearby. For a moment, everyone enjoyed the victory together.

Somewhere a child is dreaming of the day when he will play in the World Series. "Dad, can we play ball outside tomorrow?" he asks as he gets tucked into bed. Drifting off to sleep, he'll be celebrating the big win of the American League, along with his heroes on the Texas team.

Dreams are funny things, often spurred on by our parents' interests and failures. Dad didn't make it to the big leagues? Maybe Junior has a chance instead. Mom didn't get to university? She'll make sure Sissy gets her turn.

I wonder what dreams God lays out for us, and how many of those we understand and work toward. Or do our own visions of who we want to be--or the goals that others want us to accomplish--get in the way of what could be? 

Read more:

*I said to myself, 'Come on, let's try pleasure. Let's look for the "good things" in life.' But I found that this, too, was meaningless. So I said, 'Laughter is silly. What good does it do to seek pleasure?' After much thought, I decided to cheer myself with wine. And while still seeking wisdom, I clutched at foolishness. In this way, I tried to experience the only happiness most people find during their brief life in this world.

I also tried to find meaning by building huge homes for myself and by planting beautiful vineyards. . . . I collected great sums of silver and gold, the treasure of many kings and provinces. I hired wonderful singers, both men and women, and had many beautiful concubines. I had everything a man could desire! 

So I became greater than all who had lived in Jerusalem before me, and my wisdom never failed me. Anything I wanted, I would take. I denied myself no pleasure. I even found great pleasure in hard work, a reward for all my labors. But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless—like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere. Ecclesiastes 2:1–4, 8–11 NLT

*Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.

But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does. James 1:21-25 NIV