The Search for God and Guinness

I had the great blessing to receive as a gift for Christmas this year a Kindle. I LOVE it! Ever since I was a little boy I've loved to read and the Kindle has really been a blessing for me as I can read all kinds of books quickly and it has been a blessing to my spouse because it has cut back on the flood of books in our home!

One of the books I've read this year is Stephen Mansfield's "The Search for God and Guinness." Mansfield provides an overview of the history of Christianity and beer as well as the rise of the Guinness family and business. I had read somewhere else (I can't remember where, sadly) that Arthur Guinness heard John Wesley preach in Dublin and was much moved by the experience. As a Wesleyan I had to know more! Mansfield does a commendable job tracing the influence of Wesley and others and their impact on the development of the exceptional respect that the Guinness family had for its employees. That in and of itself is worth the read. I would hope those who own businesses or have supervisory responsibilities would read this book and take the lessons from the Guinness family regarding the treatment of employees to heart!

At the end of the book, Mansfield draws a few lessons for us from the Guinness family. The lesson that struck me most was this: Think in terms of generations yet to come. This is the theme for this week's posts, from Bach to Guinness to cathedral building. Mansfield says,

"Historians tell us that more than twenty-three generations were required to complete the glorious Canterbury Cathedral of England. We know that men sometimes worked all their lives on a portico or a vault or a series of pillars, understanding their labors as an offering to God. And when they were about to die, they often asked to be taken to the place they had worked in the cathedral. With their family gathered around them, they would pass their tools to their sons and command the next generation to further progress on that tabernacle of God. Then, in peace, they would pass form this life.
It is a vision that is easily lost, this idea of each generation playing a role in a larger purpose, but it has proven a pathway to success time and again."

The Guinness family embodied the idea of seeing themselves and their story as part of a greater story. Isn't it easy to miss this in our own lives? I know how often I get caught up in short term thinking. The tyranny of now. Certainly there are circumstances that require immediate attention but too often I fail to think in terms of generations, settling instead to think in terms of minutes and hours.

As a follower of Christ and one who strives to live as a citizen of God's Reign, (as one who hopes to "further the work on the tabernacle of God, if you will) I think this has huge implications for my life. Perhaps another way of putting it could be this: we must put our story into God's story. Or, perhaps, we need to recognize that our story is a part of God's dreams for the world. Portions of God's dream for the world must unfold through us!

So today I'm striving to remember to think in bigger terms, to not be held captive by email, voicemail, meetings and facebook (and blog posts) but rather to think of my life as a part of God's story and to live not only for now but for the benefit of the generations to come.

How about you?