About Arvell
Hello and 'Gebedo'!
Hi, my name is Arvell Craig aka Gebedo. On this site / blog I share my thoughts and ideas regarding life, success, Christianity and general reflections of growing spiritually and professionally.
What does it mean to die empty?
Dying empty - mean to end ones' life having emptied themselves of all they were to accomplish during their time one earth. The opposite of dying full: taking your dreams and talents, ideas and inventions, songs and books with you to the grave. But, let me clarify this a bit...
Dying empty does not mean to simply live completely focused on accomplishments, success and productivity. It does not mean you speak everything that comes to mind, or that you patent every idea that comes to you while in the shower. Dying empty does not mean you sacrifice people, relationships and every present moment in hopes of some distant future future where you can enjoy life without obligations.
Now, I do believe in sacrifice. I do believe in being productive and eliminating time wasters. However, I think it takes a person of sensitivity and discernment to judge life moment by moment to determine when we must answer that phone call while we are busy writing a business proposal or when we ignore some people for entire season while we complete our first manuscript.
Dying empty is not black and white. Success is not just money. It's not just accomplishments. Neither the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People nor the Purpose Driven Life encapsulate it. Dying empty can involve voluntarily emptying our selfish goals for more meaningful goals. Or it could be that we live by faith - sacrificing our dreams for 30 years and raise a family while trusting that we will be able to return to them at a later time. And yet knowing that even if we can't return to them, it would have been worth it.
I've heard stories of gifted people laying down their gifts to be missionaries and died seeminly never reaching their potential. I've heard of talented indiviudals moving to Germany weeky before WWII then dying in Nazi concentration camps -- again seemingly dyying too early; not empty. And then there's Jesus Christ. Did he die too young? Did couldn't he have done more if he lived longer, performed more miracles or stepped off cross- exercising his omnipotent power?
And so I've come to realize that I nor anyone alive can judge the life of another. We can't interpret history books nor the Bible in a way to define completely how life is to be lived.
BUT, I do believe that we need a relationship. A living, breathing, hearing and responding relationship with God through Jesus Christ and other people who seek to love and serve God. I believe we can learn from people of all walks of life. We can learn to hear. We can learn to help others with our uniqueness. We can discern the voice of God in the secular and the sacred. We need to live by principles, by faith, and by the voice of the Holy Spirit.
To each individual who desires to die empty - has a custom created path to walk. Some seasons emulate others and we learn from their story. Other seasons are dark and nothing other people have said brings comfort. But all along God is there. And though he may be silent he never leaves us.
But let me stop here. I have no conclusions, just thoughts.
- Arvell
Other Stuff
My company: Design That Speaks
My Idea: Church Marketing TV
My family: The Craigs [ Sorry, this pic is dated ]
My facebook: Facebook/gebedo [Note: I don't "friend" strangers. So be sure to message me first. ]
My tweets: @gebedo
