Priorities

Oswald Chambers is one of my favorite authors. Put me on an island with the proverbial two books and My Utmost for His Highest would be one of them. I even like the word utmost. It implies draining every bit of energy you have for a worthy goal.In our society many, many people are draining every bit of their energy but sometimes I question the goal that compels them to do so. Stephen Covey made the notion of being sure you are leaning your ladder against the right wall a commonly understood concept. But understanding it and practicing it are really two different things.

I’ve recently had a shift in the amount of time I spend working and the amount of time I spend with my family. I know getting that equation right has kept many a mom and dad up at night.But knowing it’s a common problem really doesn’t help because these are my children, my life, and my choices and as Truman said “the buck stops here”.

I know I digress here but being able to quote Truman just reminded me of disturbing moments at work. One occurred when a co-worker referenced the fact that “we all learned power point in high school.” Really? I think I saw my first computer in college and I think it was larger than my automobile. The other came on Sept. 11 when in conversation with a co-worker who was my age I said that 9/11 is to today’s generation what Kennedy’s assassination was to past generations in that people will ask you “Do you remember where you were when the twin towers fell? Indeed, my pastor posed that question to the congregation just this week. But a younger co-worker overheard our conversation and exclaimed “the Kennedy assassination!”You’d have thought I’d said Lincoln.

So maybe I don’t digress as much as I thought because when the hour glass is emptying we are even more likely to second guess our choices. I guess as a blogger that qualifies me as a continual talker but nonetheless I really appreciate these words that Chambers wrote: “The people who influence us the most are not those who detain us with their continual talk, but those who live their lives like the stars in the sky and ‘the lilies of the field’-simply and unaffectedly. Those are the lives that mold and shape us".

So here’s hoping we both spend our day doing something worthwhile, something that serves others, something that we truly enjoy, and something that will have eternal value. Failing that here’s hoping at least one person’s life is better today because we share the planet with them. Here’s hoping that maybe that person is a child.