Category: Wholeness

I did it again - I allowed myself to get swept away in busyness. Why do I do that?
     I don’t have the excuse of obligations of someone like Eugene H. Peterson, a world-renowned author and lecturer. Yet even with his full schedule, Peterson admitted he sometimes got caught up in busyness simply “because I am vain. I want to appear important. Significant.”
     Ouch. Do I bloat my schedule to try to look important?
     Vanity isn’t the only thing that tricked Peterson into busyness. He said that sometimes it was laziness. “I indolently let others decide what I will do instead of resolutely deciding myself.”
     I’ve done that, too, trying to please others by doing what THEY think I should do instead of setting boundaries.
     So instead of getting swept up with busyness, I want to make some sweeping reforms in my thinking and my schedule. Otherwise, my life may be as futile as Shakespeare described: “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
     What a tragedy that would be.

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When Your Yellow Brick Road Trips You

7/26/2019

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That’s me as Dorothy and my husband Duane as the Tin Man as we’re off to see the wonderful Wizard of Oz. Along with the Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion, we’re seeking brains, a heart, courage, and a way home.
     Which is what we all need along life’s highway, isn’t it? Because every day we run into flying monkeys that vex our minds. Wicked witches that crush our emotions. Dark paths that leave us fearful to take another step. Our Yellow Brick Road trips us up.
     But can a Wizard of Oz save us?
     No.
     The “Wizards” - the shortcuts in life - are as powerless as the man behind the curtain who pushes levers that release worthless smoke.
  So how do we gain the knowledge, compassion, and bravery we need to make it through our days?
     The same way the characters in “The Wizard of Oz” did - by facing our adversities, not running from them. Then wisdom, empathy, and grit develop inside us. Then we find our place in this world.
     And that’s enough to keep us skippin’ down life’s road.

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At an aquarium, I met an axolotl, a salamander that is doomed to remain in the water because it doesn’t matur fully, and I wondered whether I’m sometimes an axolotl.
During metamorphosis, this strange creature loses its tail fin and develops legs, but continues breathing through gills. It’s stuck in the water while other salamanders climb onto land and breath fresh air.
     I get stuck in the waters of immaturity sometimes, too. Like when I don’t accept responsibility for my words - whether they build up or tear down. Or my actions - whether they hurt or heal. Or my time - whether I give it freely or hoard it. Or my finances - whether I invest wisely or consume it all. Or my relationships - whether I encourage or discourage.
     None of us remains fully adult. We dip in and out of immaturity, perhaps because our self awareness is as blurry as murky water. As Fifteenth Century writer Thomas à Kempis says, “We rebuke small faults in others but overlook greater faults in ourselves.”
     What a breath of fresh air when I choose to be grown up.
     But it is a choice that requires amazing grace.
     *** Photo: Stan Shebs, Steinhart Aquarium, San Francisco.

Congratulations to Doug Reents, who bid the highest for lunch with me, and whose bid goes to JeffCo Eats, which provides food for kids who sometimes find their pantry bare. Between Doug's bid and others who donated outright to jeffcoeats.org, we raised more than $200. I just popped into the mail a Panera gift card for Doug because we don't live in the same community. Enjoy!

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