Last.

It was in second grade, Mrs. French had the class line up to go to lunch. The school days seemed longer then, the feel pre-lunch was like a different day compared to after lunch. A problem one may have at 10 AM, a distant memory at 1PM. The lunch line and one's place in it also carried a stress. It wasn't that there was a shortage of food, or that we would receive, "good" or, "bad" seating at lunch, as much as it was simply about placement in the line. 

Everyone wanted to be first. Boys were more physical, posturing and pushing to get there. Girls were more scheming. They used friendships and pleasantries to get what what they wanted. Each class in my small-town school had no more than 20 kids, yet, in the tussle, there might as well have been 50. This was not a lengthy line where a position determined when you got your food, for we all went through the line from start to finish in a matter of five minutes. It was the walking down in the order we fought to establish that meant the most. 

It wasn't until the world-changing call made by a teacher that forever altered the posturing game of the lunch line. Mrs. French called an audible in the end zone, right as the class was headed off to lunch. She could tell that the competition was affecting the children's focus a good ten minutes before the lunch bell rang. As more instances of shoving and complaining went on, an eventual peak of a teacher's psyche occurred.

"Sit down!" 

Hinsetzen!

The class looked to our dark-haired teacher, looking the most vibrant when she was disciplining us. It was in this moment that the class realized there was another way to do this. We were all positioning to get to the front, when now all that work for this bout was tossed aside. All the hard-determination of getting in the right desk, sharpening a pencil at the right time only to toss it to the side and race next to the door, all the posturing and exchanges with friends throughout the day in hopes of a show of dedication by saving a spot would occur, all gone. 

"Now, that group, you go." Pointing to the nearest group of desks. 

"Now you." Pointing to another. 

"Now, it is your turn." Now to the leftovers. 

Just like that, all power gone. She had taken the law of nature and controlled it, took away the pride of the pack. For now the kids up front had gotten their by choice from the teacher, not because they did anything to deserve it. Now the kids in the back didn't have to feel like they were lazy in getting to where they needed to go. No, now we were all equal, and all seemed right, no matter what position we were in. 

When the solution we thought we had turns out to be just one of many, we are left with the realization of our fragile existence and the ignorance of our minds. When all the attempts we struggled with to position ourselves in life all pay off and we reach the front and all the other kids want what we have, or we enjoy looking elsewhere besides the back of the head, what a moment of glory we experience. Fleeting glory however, because once the line has accomplished its purpose we all then go back to our desks and we have to do it again. 

What we strive for and the way we go about doing it, may not be what we think it is and may not be achieved in the way we planned. 

For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. 

1 Timothy 6:10

No matter what position we achieve in life, no matter the skill it takes to get there, no matter what we have written about us to the generations after our death, we still die. Then what? What is the real wealth in life? Is it in this life even? Logic says we die, and the ego demands us to believe that is it. 

Mrs. French knew that the kids fought for positioning, and yet, she knew that we would continue to do this our entire life. Whether or not we reach the front wasn't the purpose, however the purpose was  missed by our frugal attempts at posturing to get the spot, only to have to relinquish it in the end. There is always someone faster, stronger, richer, better-looking, prettier, better skills, better anything, for that is what man is made to do, fail, so we can all experience humility and grace. 

When we accept this truth and stop acting like the time spent chasing the front at all costs is noble, we can make much more of this life and beyond. Preaching is only on Sunday mornings, for this message is a reminder, in the middle of a work week, of what we work for. Give yourself the credit if you work for more than money, the world might not, but you are truly living the dream. 

Gods Bless. 

Castle-Broken: When appearances are everything, available on Amazon. A book on Male Body Image Disorders and the affect it has on many many men and the ways in which it interferes with quality of life. Click Here.