daily life as life goes on . . .

Since March I have been on assignment. 

Tim Crump, a friend of mine, asked me to prepare his books and help to sell them.  This was not a selfish request.   This was a request given on his death bed. Before his passing he added a codicil to his will, requesting that I complete this task on behalf of his estate.

I have taken this seriously, while trying to accomplish this task along with my regular tasks in life.  Until this past week, this seemed to have been a task that just grew.  Over 3,500 volumes were to be found in his library.  Even with scanning equipment I was often only able to catalog around 50 volumes an hour, sometimes fewer.  And the hours proved to be few as well – life can be crowded!!

So, this past week I put a push on.  And now I can see a finish line approaching.  Probably only 12 hours of cataloguing is still needed.  My goal is to finish before the year ends. 

At that point the family will be given opportunity to pick books they would like for their own libraries.  Then we will sell the remaining volumes.

I feel privileged to have been given this task.  And now, as I see an end in sight, I’m glad that I will be able to honor Tim’s wishes.  These are the tasks that love calls us to, and lovingly done expresses the godly task of loving our neighbors.  To those who oversee Tim’s estate, thank you for the opportunity!

I suppose every day has 24 hours.  And every week 7 days.  And every year 365 days (other than leap years!).

So why is it that we say – that was a long day?

I suppose there is a toll that stretches the minutes internally within ourselves.  A heavy hearted day means that the minutes weigh upon us, slowing us down.  A light hearted day means laughter puts a bit of helium into our steps, raising us above our problems.

Days that are longest can be either heavy or light.  When we are criticized, minimized, categorized, marginalized or even just laughed at, our steps getting longer, and our day stretches interminably. 

“Burdens are lifted at Calvary,” is an appropriate phrase from an old hymn our parents used to sing.  In that situation, we place the burden of our day on Jesus.  Easier said than done.  But when done, when we accept that we are burdened and that we cannot carry it all ourselves, somehow just even speaking out a prayer that shoves the burdens Jesus way is helpful. 

A few days ago I prayed for someone whose burdens frightened me – only Jesus could truly understand them!   I’m not sure that we solved all the problems, but we headed in the right direction. 

Reposition the burdens of your long day.  Sleep well!

So, I’m sitting in a network meeting and the facilitator says, “Do you think conferences are on the way out?”

Good question!

The idea was that we are overloaded with information and we no longer want just another binder to take home.  Personally, I’ve lost my desire to attend conferences for information sake. 

I don’t mind going to network with others.  I don’t mind going if there is an action objective designed to impact our world.  But just for information? 

And with that in mind, I’m examining the advertisements of various magazines to see what is happening.  So far, there is still a strong conference base.  But for how long? 

We’ll see.

Our Family Bible School class touched on an interesting topic.  The origin of evil. 

Usually these discussions arise out of a passage of Scripture.  In this case we were in James, chapter one.  The passage focuses more on God not tempting anyone.  This is not a statement on the origin of evil.  But people’s thoughts immediately raced backwards.

And so, our intern is to review the area of the Lord’s Prayer that talks about “and lead us not into temptation,” from the perspective of the original Koine Greek.  That was a good start.

But sitting with a group watching the Western Final of the Canadian Football League, some of the same discussion arose again.  And again, the answer was illusive.

In God is no evil – by definition.  In the Christian view of God, God is good and no evil dwells in Him.  God created the universe, including angels and humans.  And somewhere, evil had entrance.  

The discussion came to that point and then there was all sorts of divergence.  You can literally read libraries which touch on the matter of the origin of evil – from philosophical texts to works of fiction.  We will not solve this overnight, but I believe it is important to strengthen our faith by exploring the tough issues – but also to leave space for faith, admitting that there are mysteries which we will never solve.