On Thursday February 1st, I had the opportunity to hear Pastor Jon Reiner speak at my weekly Cru Meeting. If you aren’t familiar with Cru, it was formerly called Campus Crusade for Christ, and it is a club on campus at UW- La Crosse (and across the country).
Pastor Jon Reiner preaches at First Free Church in La Crosse, and he gave a talk titled “Jenga, Art, and the One Thing”. It has been very inspiring to me; so much, that I feel as though I should share it with you.
I’d like to say that the following paragraphs are written about the things that Jon spoke about at Cru. Wherever you are at in your life right now—whether you feel lost, found, on top of the world, or at your lowest, this will inspire you.
Most people are familiar with the rules of the game Jenga, but not the Jenga Perspective of Life. The way it was explained was this: Each Jenga block is a piece of your life. Whether you’re a student, an athlete, an artist, a writer, a son or daughter, a boyfriend, a girlfriend—the list goes on— each one is a block. The Jenga Perspective tells us to continually rearrange these blocks based on priority, constantly trying to balance it all. Keep the Tower (your life) standing; prevent the Tower from crashing down. That’s the most important rule of Jenga- don’t let the Tower fall.
When things start to get shaky, it becomes more and more difficult to keep everything balanced. And when the blocks that form the foundation of your Tower—the blocks that everything is dependent on—fall, shatter, or come loose, the whole Tower comes crashing down, and you’re left wondering, WHO AM I?
Jon Reiner brought up the artist Michelangelo, and his famous marble statue of David. History says that an individual asked Michelangelo how he created a masterpiece from an unwanted piece of rock. His response essentially was “…the answer is simple. David was always there in the marble. I just took away everything that was not David”. He chiseled away all other rock, until David was left.
What was left was the One Thing. Jon explained that the One Thing is whatever is of utmost importance in our lives. And in David’s case, it’s his desire for God. It’s his desire to be in the presence of the Lord and have a relationship with Him.
Who are you at your core? When everything is stripped away, what’s left? God wants to be with you, at your center. When your Tower crumbles, God loves the art that remains.
You are more than the Tower of your life. If something crumbles, the you that remains is worth it.
So, what is your One Thing? What is at your center?