YouTube: Let Life Happen
“Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.” – Allen Saunders
John Lennon often gets credit for this bit of wisdom because he includes it in his song, Beautiful Boy. The credit, however, goes to journalist and cartoonist, Allen Saunders. Like all wisdom, the source is not as important as the insight it offers.
I thought of the above quote a few evenings ago. I was doing my usual evening cat herding—rounding up our three outdoor cats into the garage for the night. Most of the time, all three rush in without coaxing. This night, two decided to play hard to get. I felt a twinge of anxiety creep in as the evening progressed and there were still no cats. Just then, as if someone flipped a switch, I felt this message: Let life happen.
Like all minor problems, this one resolved rather quickly. The two outlaws sauntered up, as if to remind me that the clock of the universe runs on their time, not mine. Then, a weightier issue struck me at that moment. My twinge of anxiety came from wanting life to happen differently. Like the television-addicted Chancey Gardener (Peter Sellers, Being There), I was pushing the remote channel changer, and nothing was happening.
Let life happen is, of course, another way of saying, Let go and let God. Maybe that phrase is getting a little worn. Sometimes a slight change of wording can be all it takes to breathe new life into any time-tested affirmation of faith.
Is it possible to apply this simple idea to something more than a pair of obstinate cats? What if we understood that our purpose in life is simply to let life happen? Wouldn’t this mean we could stop striving to control everything and actually enjoy this journey? Are we too preoccupied with protecting our anxiety prone weaknesses to fully appreciate our God given strengths?
It seems we are always so busy making other plans that we do not see the life that is happening all around us. Perhaps this simple reminder will, in our own cat-herding situation, provide the needed catalyst to Let Life Happen.