YOLO - The Rev. Melanie W. J. Slane

Sermons from the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer

Drowning didn't make me perfect, but I think it did maybe make me a little bit better. I was more conscious of what was going on around me, more thoughtful around water. I trained in CPR, the same thing that saved my life and became a lifeguard, helping others to be safe in the water. I didn't altogether throw out though the notion that you only live once. YOLO is what the kids call it these days. I've heard this phrase ad nauseam in our culture. Live life to the fullest. Take the trip, try the thing, go out there. Spend all that money, just do it. And while I, I understand the sentiment, Yolo, you only live once, I think our focus on Paul's letter to the Romans today is asking us a deep and abiding question about living. And about what we're living for. It asks us, are you just out there living your best life so that you can have more than your neighbor? Is yolo your excuse to spend your entire paycheck on a new car or a bigger house, or the latest Chanel bag? We're all alive, thank God, but what are we living for?