daily life as life goes on . . .

I was reading this morning about a tribe in the African desert.  They supposedly smuggle goods between two opposing countries.  When chased by authorities at night they turn off their headlights and drive unseen into the desert.

The description which I so liked – “A man from this tribe can tell his location by the smell of the sand.”

Now, I live in the Canadian grain belt.  Here we do not so much see sand as gumbo or loam or just plain dirt.  After a rain, you can smell the soil.  And seasoned farmers will also know the land on which they stand.

That knowledge of your location comes from familiarity with the land.  Too often we live nomadic lives, never putting our feet on the soil (or as the old saying goes, our roots into the ground).  Perhaps we would feel more grounded if we spent time in one place.  If we learned what made for a good relationship with those around us.  What caused us to deal with conflict and joy.

In that way we could find our location by the smell of the sand!

This week has been one of those opportunities to turn to God.  There are a lot  of “I don’t knows”.  Mostly as I have been with people and seen the lives we live.

Of no fault of our own, no sin of conscious thought, no desire for evil – and yet people live with cancer, find their bodies and minds are tiring, youth confront a world where opportunities look often like challenging mountains.

I turn to God.  Even this morning.  I turn, not with reluctance but certainly with a sense of unknowing.  And perhaps even expecting that my prayers will not have clear answers.  I pray in faith for healing and for knowledge and for wisdom.  My faith is weak, my experience often clouds my faith. 

On the mountain that stands in contrast to my faith, I see a path that starts up the mountain and I know the map says it reaches the other side.  I lose sight of the path in the low lying clouds, but for each one walking  the path I encourage them to believe that each step has a next step.  Trust the builder of the path and keep walking.

I saw my wife walk part of that path and now walks where I cannot see.  But by faith’s eyes, my vision includes a better day for her.  I wish I was on the other side of the mountain to watch her, but I’m trusting Jesus to do just that.

And here and now, with those who walk with me, I’m trusting Jesus to give you strength, wisdom and a measure of understanding.  God is with you!  God is for you!

In this past week I have consulted Wikipedia on a few issues (keeping  in mind that this is not the only source of information).

For those of you who are not familiar with the idea of Wikipedia:  This is, for us older types, what we used to call an encyclopedia.   On the internet you can find wiki sites.  Here anyone (well, almost anyone) can place their knowledge of a subject into a giant database.  Originally anything went.  Except for a few rules – I think maybe even truth was in there, although obscured by the desire to allow diversity (but that’s another day’s discussion on the postmodern age).

Nowadays, when an entry is found lacking, the “stub” is flagged and you can add your helpful information.  You are expected to have foot notes (cross references, articles, etc.) to verify the veracity of the information.  I recently found another “rule”.

If you “list” information, the data is flagged as being “better” understood in prose form.  Narrative has triumphed.  As I was growing up, I loved to listen to lectures that presented point after point.  Often point six was prior to point seven for a reason.  I didn’t need linking narrative.  I could figure it out myself.

Our current society prefers story and that comes in written, visual, dramatic, sensate, verbal, and many other forms.  I appreciate those forms – and I’ve worked in many of them.  But, I’m still a product of a previous age.  Get the information to me quickly, in point form, and I’m good with that.

Although I do enjoy a well written article.  Hopefully whoever edits/revises these Wikipedia articles is a good writer and does not obscure the information or bore us so we don’t even read the information.

A biker came into my office today.  Sporting nice leathers, he mentioned that he sees enough Harley Davidson gear around, he just had to wear Suzuki paraphernalia.

What people wear, and for what reasons! 

Have  you seen some of the Tshirts currently available?  “It’s all about me” seems to be making the rounds.  I like the old saying (at least it’s getting to be old):  been there, done that, got the Tshirt. 

Tshirts do tend to summarize in a small area the large areas of our lives.  What we wear says a lot about who we are. 

And it’s not just the words on a shirt.  Friday I wore a tie to work.  A great reminder that I was headed off to work.  The day was definitely tinged with aspects of life that could have distracted, but I was “tied” to completely to the tasks before me.

There was an old tradition of setting your clothes out the night before.  Not just to make sure they were washed and ironed.  But also to remind us of the opportunities of the coming day.  Not a bad plan!