January 10, 2006
What was it Burns said...."The best laids plans of mice and men often go awry." Hmmm. Actually, just looking it up, it was originally "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft a-gley" from his poem, "To a Mouse." "Gang aft a-gley"??? I'm so glad the English language has changed over the years. As difficult as it is now for ESL students, I can't even imagine wht it would have been like back then.
Anyway...best laid plans. I never make New Year's resolutions because I don't want to break them. I just try to do what I think (or know) I should all throughout the year - I don't need a new year to start to try to mak a good habit or break a bad one. Still, there is something about Janus that is oddly appealing in the desire to start something new. Thinking about it though, Janus is actually to be pitied. All he can do is stand there and see the past, and see the future - but he himself is going nowhere. Worse than a past of regrets I think would be a present in which you are unable to change. So many people seem to get stuck in this precise situation. Unable to go back, unable to move forward, their life stagnates. I think a lot of people have been in this situation at some point in their life, to some degree. Especially, I think, Christians. At any point in existence, any person, or entity even (business can have the same thing happen to them), has the choice to move forward, stay still, or move backward. In general there is a trend of moving forward, though at any given time one might be standing still or sometimes even moving backwards. What counts is the overall action. You know, three steps forward, two steps back - the result is still a net gain. Do this faithfully, and even if you never learn to take forward steps without taking steps back, you will definitely be moving. A lot of extra, useless moving will be included, but you will be heading for your goal. That's what counts.
Anyway...Christians...we have our life, we get saved, we're all excited, ready to change the world...and then...something happens to 95% of us. We become content, I think. That's part of the problem. We lose sight of the finish line, start wondering if we have the right shoes to be running in, if we should have had yogurt instead of ham and eggs for breakfast, if that person in front of us is so far ahead that we might as well not even try to run fast. We become complacent. We become distracted. We become useless. Even if we can no longer be tempted to do evil, it is enough if we do not do good. What was that quote...Burke...Edmund Burke..."All that is needed for the forces of evil to triumph is for enough good men to do nothing." Something along those lines. As is so often the case, commission is not the greatest crime, but rather omission.
So...what to do about it. I don't have any dried and cut answer. There isn't one. Faith, and more importantly, acting on that faith, is not something that you do once and then forget about. Living out your faith is a daily, sometimes a moment to moment, choice. It's not about how you feel, but about what you know. It's a lot like love, actually. You can (and will) fall in and out of like with your significant other, but love is a choice that you choose, that you stick by, that you work for. Like is based on temporal variables; love is based on lasting constants.
Where am I going with all this? I don't really know. I don't even know what got me started on it. Plans, I think. Making plans. Fail to plan, you plan to fail. A plan is just an idea till someone puts it into action. Then it becomes life-changing.
I guess what I want to say is make plans. Act on them. Don't give up, let go, or become discouraged.
And above all - LIVE.
..."I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."
Anyway...best laid plans. I never make New Year's resolutions because I don't want to break them. I just try to do what I think (or know) I should all throughout the year - I don't need a new year to start to try to mak a good habit or break a bad one. Still, there is something about Janus that is oddly appealing in the desire to start something new. Thinking about it though, Janus is actually to be pitied. All he can do is stand there and see the past, and see the future - but he himself is going nowhere. Worse than a past of regrets I think would be a present in which you are unable to change. So many people seem to get stuck in this precise situation. Unable to go back, unable to move forward, their life stagnates. I think a lot of people have been in this situation at some point in their life, to some degree. Especially, I think, Christians. At any point in existence, any person, or entity even (business can have the same thing happen to them), has the choice to move forward, stay still, or move backward. In general there is a trend of moving forward, though at any given time one might be standing still or sometimes even moving backwards. What counts is the overall action. You know, three steps forward, two steps back - the result is still a net gain. Do this faithfully, and even if you never learn to take forward steps without taking steps back, you will definitely be moving. A lot of extra, useless moving will be included, but you will be heading for your goal. That's what counts.
Anyway...Christians...we have our life, we get saved, we're all excited, ready to change the world...and then...something happens to 95% of us. We become content, I think. That's part of the problem. We lose sight of the finish line, start wondering if we have the right shoes to be running in, if we should have had yogurt instead of ham and eggs for breakfast, if that person in front of us is so far ahead that we might as well not even try to run fast. We become complacent. We become distracted. We become useless. Even if we can no longer be tempted to do evil, it is enough if we do not do good. What was that quote...Burke...Edmund Burke..."All that is needed for the forces of evil to triumph is for enough good men to do nothing." Something along those lines. As is so often the case, commission is not the greatest crime, but rather omission.
So...what to do about it. I don't have any dried and cut answer. There isn't one. Faith, and more importantly, acting on that faith, is not something that you do once and then forget about. Living out your faith is a daily, sometimes a moment to moment, choice. It's not about how you feel, but about what you know. It's a lot like love, actually. You can (and will) fall in and out of like with your significant other, but love is a choice that you choose, that you stick by, that you work for. Like is based on temporal variables; love is based on lasting constants.
Where am I going with all this? I don't really know. I don't even know what got me started on it. Plans, I think. Making plans. Fail to plan, you plan to fail. A plan is just an idea till someone puts it into action. Then it becomes life-changing.
I guess what I want to say is make plans. Act on them. Don't give up, let go, or become discouraged.
And above all - LIVE.
..."I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."
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Hey!! Thanks for the comment!! Yes... I am infitantly blessed to have such a wacked out group to life with. You know what? Down in California there is even a larger, crazier group. How do I know? Because.... I used to live in California. Up in the north state. Redding to be exact. Three cheers for California!!
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