Carpe Diem

A milestone birthday is just a few months away. Fifty is almost here, and I am standing on a precipice, looking down at the beginning of what our society deems the age you become a “senior citizen.” Visions of AARP cards, bus rides to Branson, MO, and discounts at Perkins flash through my head. I’m starting to worry more about my health and what challenges I will have to face as I age. I’ve taken to perusing the family history on ancestry.com for how long I’ve potentially got left to enjoy heaven on earth.

Who’s in Charge?

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you. Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you. Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds those who trust in God.  ~ Psalms 32:8-10

In the first call committee meeting, the bishop told our group, regarding the important task in front of us, “Let the Spirit guide you…”

What does this mean, I thought? This piece of advice was vastly different from my experience working for a corporate retailer. “Speed is life,” they would tell us. Proper interviewing techniques were built into the culture there. It was engrained in me upon hire. I was accustomed to behavioral interview questions. “Tell me about a time…” We typically didn’t pray before or after interviews.

Giving Winter the Bird

Summer’s on its way out. It’s too soon–it’s always too soon–but I know it has to happen. And lately I’ve been thinking about acceptance–about how to accept the inevitable with grace.

Animals are good at that, from what I can tell. Geese realize it’s time to move on, and they begin practicing flying in v-formation. Most of the time it seems like they’re heading north or east or west. But I know eventually the practice flights will end, they’ll take off towards the south, and we won’t see them for several long months. Butterflies are here one day and gone the next. And I imagine bears giving a few big yawns and then curling up for their winter naps. Only human animals sit on their patios in late summer and curse the dwindling daylight and chill in the air.

Top Ten Tips

There have been too many ‘goodbyes’ and ‘hellos’ in my life recently. Karen and I said goodbye to family, friends, 30 years of ministry, and our home in Minnesota to say hello to new friends and ministry in Florida. Four years later we said goodbye to Florida and hello to Family of Christ. We now say goodbye to FoC and hello to a new position on the bishop’s staff. I am comfortable with change, but too many goodbyes and hellos test one’s balance and strain the roots of stability.

It is very difficult to say goodbye, but it is an all-too-familiar experience. We try to avoid goodbyes at all cost. Minnesotans are experts at avoiding goodbyes.

“Change equals death.”

I admit it. This quote from Woody Allen’s movie “Husbands & Wives” has always resonated with me. I’m not the sort of person who instantly embraces change and leads the charge. I’m the one in the back of the pack saying, “Are you sure? Have you thought this through? Do we have to?”

I love the change of seasons–especially summer into fall, my favorite time of year. I love it when someone else changes a flat tire for me. I love it when I get change from a vending machine without having to bang on it. But to change my life–no. Not my favorite thing. I like my life just the way it is, thank you very much.