Skip to main content

Bad Days.


 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6)
            Normally, I try to finish writing a blog post by lunchtime the day before I share it with you. It’s a bad day if it takes that long. It’s a really bad day if it takes me until dinner. And now, it’s 10:00 pm, and I’m only now reaching a point where I can write, and getting here has included not only anger but tears. 
            Part of the problem is all that is going on around us, the virus, and the hatred. Part of the problem was that it was a Thursday when I have a volunteer job that I want to do, but that takes the better part of the afternoon. Part of it is that I had plans for when I came north that aren’t happening because of the virus, because I don’t have a clue what I’m doing, and because I’m afraid to go out and fail. 
          Part of it is that I got it into my head to garden and forage and that there would be this abundance of food that would feed me, feed my neighbor, stock my larder and let me take food to the food pantry. The book I got on foraging puts it bluntly – foraging isn’t going to feed a person and my little garden might help feed my neighbor and me, but it’s likely to have much left over – at least not at the rate it’s going.
           Part of it is that I decided this morning to buy some strawberries, to make strawberry sauce, and to can it. Somehow, I got it into my head that 6 pints of strawberries would make lots more sauce than it did. I planned to violate the laws of physics.  I had dreams of filling my shelves with sauces, jams, diced tomatoes, and whatever else I could dream up. 
          I’m not the only one with dreams that aren’t fitting with reality. There are people who think that when the governors open up their states, they’re going to emerge from their homes into a pristine world best described by the song Imagine. I can’t think of a more horrible world, but it’s going to be clean, the virus is going to be gone, and everything’s going to be wonderful. Not.
         Then there are those who think that if those nasty white folks and conservatives would just drop dead, everything would be wonderful. Sorry, fallen human nature is fallen human nature, as evidenced by the people practicing racism in their denunciation of racism. 
          The thing is, in each of these dreams, we’re dreaming, not planning, not dealing with reality, and not looking for God’s will. Fortunately, God keeps working. So now, having gotten next to nothing done all day except making a little over 6 pints of half-decent strawberry sauce that I'd dreamed would bew at least twice that – and learning – I’m going to go to bed so I can get up and share this with you. And, I’m going to thank God for being God, and for continuing that work that He’s doing because He’s God, in hope that tomorrow will be a better day.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Higher Thoughts

  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the  Lord . “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)           The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,   for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord      so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:15-16) If you read about the ancient gods of the various peoples, you’ll find that they think just like people. In fact, they think just like the sort of people we really wouldn’t want to be around. They think like the most corrupt Hollywood producer or, like hormone overloaded teens with no upbringing.   It’s embarrassing to read. I have a friend who argues that because God is not just like us, He is so vastly dif...
2 comments
Read more

Think About These Things

                 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8) This passage is a major challenge for me. Like everyone else, I struggle to keep my thoughts from wandering off into the weeds, then wondering what possible benefits those weeds might have… Sigh. But as a writer, I have to delve at least a little into the ignoble, wrong, impure, unlovely, and debased. After all, there’s no story if everything’s just as it should be and everyone’s happy. As Christians, there are times when we need to deal with all the negatives, but that makes it even more important that we practice turning our minds by force of attention to what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. It’s just too easy to get stuck in a swamp. With my...
1 comment
Read more

A Virgin?

           Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)           This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18)           But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”            “How will this be,” Mary asked the...
Post a Comment
Read more