Right now, I’d have to say that nothing about my life is glamorous, in any way. I’m going through the tough slog. Paul, in his letter to the Thessalonians, said to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody. Well Paul, those are lovely words but sometimes just a tad difficult to execute. I mean no one suggested that the Christ followers life would be easy. I realize this. But seriously? Lead a quiet life (AKA boring?) – check. Nothing exciting happening here. Mind your business. Does this mean ‘don’t be a busy body? a gossip? and nuisance? OR does it mean to mind your ‘Business’. Business being livelihood, vocation, career…business. Probably both. Work with your hands. Yes I do know what that means. I do that a lot but maybe not enough. Win the respect of outsiders – I don’t seem to be winning much respect lately. Don’t be dependent on anybody. That’s a tough one when you are unemployed. Even if I do start my business (which I am endeavoring to do) and this will definitely involve working with my hands, I will be dependent on people wanting to buy what I am building, baking, painting, creating. So in the end we are always dependent on others. “People who need people are the luckiest people in the world” – Barbara Striesand (what does she know?).
So I am in a season of life that is very quiet. Eerily quiet. All I have to listen to all day is the inner voice and workings of my heart, mind and soul. Very often they are not that kind to me. So I thought I would read Ecclesiastes. Why? Because I am a glutton for punishment. That’s why. When you spend as much time alone as I do these days, you start to rake yourself over the coals for becoming such a loser. Then you read Ecclesiastes. Because it so encouraging???
Smoke, nothing but smoke, There’s nothing to anything – its all smoke. What’s there to show for a lifetime of work, a lifetime of working your fingers to the bone? ….The sun comes up and the sun goes down, then does it again, and again – the same old round…Everything’s boring, utterly boring – no one can find any meaning in it. Boring to the eye, boring to ear, what was will be again, what happened will happen again. ….year after year, its the same old thing…Nobody remembers what happened yesterday ….Don’t count on being remembered. ….Oh I did great things… (Had babies, raised kids, made sacrifices, ran a home, provided sustenance and nourishment for my family, worked with my hands at various jobs to pay for that sustenance, gained weight, lost weight, worked out, couch potatoed it, worked on my marriage, served on committees for the betterment of families and marriages and kids, traveled, chauffeured, took adult piano lessons, cooking classes, painting workshops, painted for others, sewed for others, decorated for others, baked for others, planned events for others)...Oh how I prospered. I left all my predecessors in Jerusalem (Calgary, Toronto, Vancouver) far behind, left them behind in the dust. What’s more, I kept a clear head through it all. Everything I wanted I took – I never said no to myself. I gave in to every impulse, held back nothing. I sucked the marrow of pleasure out of every task – my reward to myself for a hard day’s work. Then I took a good look at everything I’d done, looked at all the sweat and hard work. But when I looked, I saw nothing but smoke. Smoke and spitting into the wind. There was nothing to any of it. Nothing.
And that seems to be where I am right now. Everything I’ve done in this life and everything I have worked so hard to attain and create has come to a dead end. Or so it feels. What now? Well the thought has crossed my mind to go to bed and sleep until the rapture but then I read the story of the Master and talents and know that this doesn’t make sense. Don’t worry, I am not at the place of doing myself in with a red scarf. I know I have too much to live for and I know that this is a difficult passage of time that I am navigating and that it won’t last forever. I know that what will last forever will be whatever I do for the Kingdom. SO… FOCUS!
Some nuggets of truth and encouragement that I DID get from Solomon were these:
We work to feed our appetites meanwhile our souls go hungry. (Been there, done that. Beware.)
On a good day, enjoy yourself, on a bad day, examine your conscience. God arranges for both kinds of days so that we won’t take anything for granted. ( My experience for sure.)
There’s nothing better than being wise, Knowing how to interpret the meaning of life. Wisdom puts light in the eyes, and gives gentleness to words and manners. (I want! )
Seize life! Eat bread with gusto, Drink wine with a robust heart. Oh yes – God takes pleasure in your pleasure: Dress festively every morning. Don’t skimp on colors and scarves. (this has always been my philosophy). Relish life with the spouse you love each and every day of your precarious life. A joy and blessing. (Solomon also says that two are better than one and I agree). Each day is God’s gift. It’s all you get in exchange for the hard work of staying alive. (Staying alive is hard work as we are all starting to realize in this era). Make the most of each one! Whatever turns up (I’m waiting Lord), grab it and do it. And heartily!
The race is not always to the swift, not the battle to the strong, nor satisfaction to the wise, nor riches to the smart, nor grace to the learned. Sooner or later bad luck hits us all. No one can predict misfortune. Like fish caught in a cruel net or birds in a trap, so men and women are caught by accidents evil and sudden. (Unfortunately this is all too true. We have each experienced this heartache in our lives or sphere of influence).
God said “I beg your pardon? I never promised you a rose garden”. Ok God didn’t say that , Lynn Anderson did, but He did say “that in this life you will have trouble…but be of good cheer I have overcome the world”.
Dead flies in perfume make it stink – (OK that has nothing to do with anything, I just thought I’d throw that line in because it was there …what?)
Here’s a piece of bad news I’ve seen on earth…Immaturity is given a place of prominence, while maturity is made to take a back seat. (I’ll let you interpret that however you want but I know whats going through my mind).
Be generous: invest in acts of charity, Charity yields high returns. Don’t hoard your goods; spread them around. Be a blessing to others. This could be your last night. …Don’t sit there watching the wind. Do your own work. Don’t stare at the clouds. Get on with your life….you’ll never understand the mystery at work in all that God does. Go to work in the morning and stick to it until evening without watching the clock. You never know from moment to moment to moment how your work will turn out in the end. (This kind of resonates with what Paul said in Thessalonians.)
The words of the wise prod us to live well. They’re like nails hammered home, holding life together. They are given by God, the one Shepherd.
Fear God, Do what He tells you. And that’s it. Eventually God will bring everything that we do out into the open and judge it according to its hidden intent, whether its good or evil.
OK, and that’s life in a nutshell folks. I digress….
I was talking about my boring, unglamorous life. Leading a quiet life and minding my own business. Maybe this is something I should try for a change. TeeHee. I want to do something meaningful and productive and lucrative but my hands seems to be tied right now. Nothing I put my mind to seems to be producing. Maybe that’s the problem, God said He would bless the work of my hands…. I am a doer. I am a rescuer. AND I have been heard saying “I can do that myself” millions of times regarding thousands of tasks and initiatives. And so, when I can’t DO or FIX, I start to go a little nutzo. And maybe the master Creator is trying to tell me to lead a quiet life and mind my own business and just trust in what He can do for me for a change. I know I have been told to go into my house and start pouring two tablespoons of oil into oodles of large vessels (2 Kings 4) but that’s another post for another day. And Im sure this is what I am supposed to be doing but I keep bumping up against obstacles and detours and detainment’s…it does almost feel like someone or something is trying to stop me. But I must persist because this is the one and only thing that I have been given clear direction on.
I am living a life of faith now. Well hopefully I’ve always been living a life of faith. And I know that God is never late. His timing is perfect. He knows what He’s doing and even though I don’t know what His plans for me are, He knows the plans He has for me. Plans not to harm me, plans to prosper me (in every way) and give me a future (on earth) and a hope (for eternity). So I will just have to fly with that and when He starts putting those plans into action…Life is not going to be boring anymore folks. But I must wait and trust.
The Red Plaid Apron 
.. Praying for “fresh, new, WIDE-OPEN DOORS for you, Geri!! xo
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