Commitment or Contribution?

I’m back in Frisco from my Austin “green acres” experiences while my children were out of town. Did I mention my grandson has 32 animals, of which 16 are chickens: 2 roosters, 8 mother hens and 6 “teenage” chickens who will mature to the “hen” status in a few months. Scanning through my cell phone photos, I ran across these photos of what it looks like in the coop when I would bring in the “mother lode” of eggs each day. Each time I gathered them up; I shouted out to the hens and said “Thanks, Girls, for the contribution!” I brought home a couple of cartons of those best-ever (something about fresh eggs); took one carton to my daughter and another to my cousin. Those hens “contributed” and I paid it forward by contributing their contribution!

We’ve all heard the analogy about the chicken and the pig. The chicken is involved and contributes eggs to the breakfast table and then goes about her day, but the pig is committed. He’s tossed in the frying pan, and that’s “Good-bye, Mr. Pig!” He went out in a blaze of glory….but was it really “glory”?

As much as I enjoy its sentiment, one thing has always bothered me about that story. The one telling the story is always conjuring up the idea that only when we commit, not just contribute, will we succeed in our efforts. But that level of commitment leads to a side of bacon. The pig didn’t even volunteer for his sacrifice of commitment. His life was taken, involuntarily. He’ll never again get to enjoy a roll in the mud. All the while, those chickens love pecking, strutting and flying around and are enjoying life.

There’s a lesson to be learned by those chickens. While the pig was enjoyed as a great meal compliment, those chickens continued to survive adversity and they just kept right on giving and living….and, oh, BTW — their brothers and sisters knew commitment — probably even more than the pigs — just look at all those KFC’s, Chick-Fil-A’s, Cane’s, Popeye’s and Chicken Express’ out there!

There’s something to be said for merging commitment and contribution. Most certainly our Lord exemplified both. He lived a life of commitment to His calling to change the world with His message of love, hope, and faith. And we, too, have the opportunity to fulfill our commitment to Him, Who freely, sacrificially, and fully gave His life for us. Our Lord paid it forward so that we forever can live and serve and make a difference in this world. He contributed Himself to us, so count me in as a contributor, too! I want to follow His lead to share, give, provide sustenance around me — long term.

Here’s how we can merge the two: contributing peace, joy and God’s love everywhere we go, and, then in the end…..let’s bank on going out in a blaze of glory because we’ve been committed, wholly and completely, to our Lord as we have served Him and others with all our hearts. In that case, WHAT A WAY TO GO OUT…..blazing the trail for others to follow!!