The Good Life

Zurich





Milan



Stresa, Italy

 

My favorite song of the summer is One Republic's "Good Life".  It makes me smile and dance in my car.   This summer, I have traveled well, relaxed well, worked hard, and tried not to complain about the little things.  The time has flown by.  So in a small way, I can relate to the feeling in the song of traveling and being busy and enjoying life -

To my friends in New York, I say hello

My friends in LA they don't know

Where I've been for the past few years or so

Paris to China to Colorado...

I say I got this feeling that you can't fight

Like this city is on fire tonight

This could really be a good life, a good, good life...

I started to think about the singer's "good life" of huge success and exciting travel.  It looks good in movies, but is it that really the "good life"?  I think it can be for a while, but not many people can sustain that kind of life for a long period of time.  Our trip to Europe at the beginning of the summer was awesome, but it wore me out and made me appreciate the slower, simpler things in life.  

What is the "good life" that I really want?  I came upon the Jewish word "shalom".   Not quite as upbeat as a party song, but maybe fuller than a party.  "Shalom" is often translated as "peace", but I found that it can also mean



safety

well-being

happiness

prosperity

rest

wholeness

completeness

I like the idea of completeness.  It is kind of like the idea of "soul balance" - having everything you deeply need in all of the right amounts.  Living deeply, fully, completely.  Shalom.

"I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." - Jesus