daily life as life goes on . . .

Not that I don’t like to write.  I do.  And my head is full of text, ideas and narratives.

But, . . . what happens when life happens?  Years ago I decided that would be the title of a blog I would write daily.  My mentor, Randall Friesen, was using the internet as a communication tool.  He stressed that a regular, daily routine would garner readers, but would also provide an opportunity to increase writing skills and communication adventures.

That edict lasted for almost twenty years.  Somehow I broke off the daily routine these past few years. 

I like to think I became involved in the various tasks of life.  Daily life as life goes on.  Somehow I like to think my own thinking evolved.  Not everyone cares what you write.  Somehow I like to think I was too old school.  New generations see things in new ways. 

But . . . maybe to do is to be.  To be able to think through life, to be able to allow others into my life, to be able to connect with others in such a way that I hear them and they hear me. 

No promises. 

But . . . I do want to write more.

These words arrive in your presence.  A present present to you.  Enjoy, interact, shelve, interpret, like, disconnect, set aside.

Yes, we are now in Calgary. I went out and got a paper map of the city – trying to visualize all the places we will end up travelling to in the next while. Somehow my mind still works with a picture rather than just listening to someone (something?) tell which way to turn and when to reverse course.

I’ve been digitizing my life – or at least files I have kept of events over the years.  At some points I wish I had those days back.  At other points I realize with gratitude what God has given.  At all points I need to live in the present with God’s future in mind. 

A quote from David Timms on living, not in nostalgia, but in the present and future:

Nostalgia can become an effort to preserve the past, rather than give thanks for the past.

Information is not always power. 

Just ask any librarian. 

In the digital age, wealth and power accrue to those who control the system logics by which data is exchanged.  (Batstone, David.  “I crave power”.  Sojourners, May-June 2000, p. 10.)