Wherever You are, be All There
Especially at Christmas
I have some cool relatives. One is Linda Beverly, who is my wife’s first cousin. She recently sent a Christmas letter that echoed what I have been feeling, especially since the cancer diagnosis.
Her words were based on something Jim Elliot was preaching to himself, in his journal entry of October 28, 1949:
“Wherever you are, be all there!”
These words were written well beyond the current emphasis on “mindfulness”. They are the desire of a man fully alive to God, who is seeking to be fully alive to God’s world. I find myself agreeing in my soul with Linda as she writes the following:
Living with ADHD of the soul, I’m either living in the past or ten steps down my “to do” list, or both. All the while carrying on a conversation. Consequently, I tend to live a life of distraction, not fulfillment.
What does it mean to be “all there”? My interpretation is it means being fully engaged, heart, soul, mind and body. Not fragmented, distracted or apathetic. It means when in conversation, engage my whole person with the person with whom I am engaged. When in nature, it means being fully engaged in the sights, sounds and smells surrounding me. It means more than being in the moment. It means being completely saturated in the moment.
This is especially hard at Christmas. This Christmas, I want to be fully engaged; heart, soul, mind and body with Jesus, the one we are celebrating. He was “all there” for me when He left heaven to take on human flesh in a humble manger. He was “all there” for me when He hung on the cross, the cross I should have hung on. He was “all there” for me when He rose from the grave, a grave I no longer need to fear. He is “all there” for me now as He intercedes to the Father on my behalf.
I want to be “all there” with family and friends when we are together this season. Not busy entertaining. Not preoccupied with the schedule. I want to be treasuring people, fully saturated in the richness of relationships.
May you be “all there” this holiday season and every season with those you love.
I've never been all there, according to my therapist.
But seriously, this is a good message, one I probably need to take to heart since I am rarely all there.
Experienced this sentiment the past two years like I haven't ever before. As a matter of fact, I've been pondering the idea but had never read/heard/seen it put so succinctly. Thank you for sharing.
Being all there requires work and is accompanied by multiple, often competing, emotions. Wisdom has also taught me that professional and personal discipline is a foundation to being all there. I want to be all there at work, in my marriage, as a father, in my church community, in my hobbies, etc.
I think the apostle Paul would've shaken Jim Elliot's hand for so practically summarizing his writings to the Colossians: "whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him."