There Is a Model for Order and Balance in Life

Deacon Lee Hunt

 

There is an order and balance by which we must live our lives if we want to get the most out of them. I learned over many years to live my life with some order and balance without having a model for what I was doing. When I was in deacon formation, a model was explained to me:

 

    1. God

    2. Family

    3. Job

    4. Church and other things

 

God must be at the top step in our individual lives. When God is first, our relationship with him will permeate all that we do at home, on the job, and at church.

 

Our family comes second. This means that we must spend quality time with our family, especially our immediate family. A friend of mine told me, when his children were leaving home to go to college, that he had never seen them grow up. My friend was a workaholic; he lived for his job. Parents have more affect than anyone else does on how their children will live their lives.

 

Our job is what we do to earn money to support our family. In our materialistic society, we sometimes measure success only by how much we earn. God does not measure success this way. We need only earn enough to support our families. Who, on Judgment Day, will say? “I wished I’d put another day in at the office.”

 

Finally, there is what we do at church. When you have time prioritized and balanced right on the first three steps of the ladder, you will find time for the last. All Christians are called to ministry.

 

We must work at finding a balance between all four steps. Praying continuously to God and not feeding our children is not right. Sometimes we may have to work a long day or several, but we can’t live at our job. Nor can we live at the parish.

 

If we have a poor relationship with God, unresolved problems in our family, and trouble at our job, the quality of our service to the people of God will be lacking.