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"You shall not covet your neighbor's house..." 

Exodus 20:17

So for the past few months I've been coming weekly to the University of Washington to meet with United Lifers who are students here. The place that was suggested to me (rightly) was Suzzallo Cafe, a large room with high ceilings and an espresso bar in the corner. And what the cafe lacks in ambiance (it could easily be mistaken for a high school cafeteria, except for the carpet and the stained glass windows), it makes up for in tables: lots and lots of tables. There are enough tables to seat at least 200 with their laptops and books with plenty of room to spare.

Yet the UW is a pretty big school, and Suzzallo Cafe gets busy enough so that it's pretty common to see strangers sitting together at these tables. This is all well and good if you came to study. But sitting next to a complete stranger makes talking with a brother or sister in Christ about life much harder, which in turn makes finding the right table harder as well. Throw in the fact that my laptop needs to be within 8 ft of an electrical outlet, and you can imagine how happy I feel when I actually do find a spot that meets all of these needs.


Usually, though, I don't find an ideal spot, at least not right away. So what I do is I camp out at another table, sometimes next to a stranger, pull out a few things to work on, and I keep watch.Yes, I become that guy. Every few seconds my head scans the cafe, especially honing in on the few tables located close enough to the electrical outlets. I watch carefully, looking for signs: standing up to put on a jacket, closing a book and putting it away, unplugging a laptop. As soon as I see something telltale I lock in, getting my own stuff ready so that I can quickly pounce when the timing is right. And, yes, I will race someone else to that spot. These are things you just have to do when real estate is scarce.

Yet all of this table hunting has taught me something. The truth is, no matter how perfect my spot might be (today, for example, I'm in a pretty good spot except for the study group whose table, for some unknown reason -there's enough space behind them to land a plane- is almost on top of my table), when 6 PM comes I'm packing my stuff, giving the table up to someone else, and starting all over again in a week. I can't take the spot with me, nor would I want to stay there forever (the cafe closes at 9 PM anyway, earlier on Fridays).

And isn't it the same with life? No matter how perfect a life we can build, whether it's the perfect house, the perfect job, the perfect car, isn't it true that one day all of these things will pass? We strive so hard for things that are, ultimately, temporary. This includes, by the way, legacy: how many Roman emperors can you name, and for the ones you can name, how many of them care that you know their names? Their legacy will always far outstrip yours, people have written books about them, people have made statues of them. And yet all that too shall pass.

What shall not pass? What is worth our striving? Peter says it well, "According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." 
1 Peter 1:3-5


Amen!