lists
This is a list week. One week left and every moment counts. Every minute lost is a minute lost forever and possibly a bit of magic along the way. Either magic or headache, but either way they contribute to the experience of the season and both can be constructive. Even moments to not live by lists are on my list so that the urgency of one list doesn’t overwhelm the importance of the other list and in the end, as I light a candle on Christmas Eve, I can rest in the fact that this was a Christmas to remember.
So I live a life on paper, all cosmically calculated to achieve the objectives. There are wish lists of gifts. There is a calendar list to observe and make sure that I’m not supposed to be three places at once. I can sometimes manage two, but that’s my limit. There are grocery lists, pastoral lists, lists that I’ll check twice, lists of who’s been naughty, which is quite lengthy, and lists of the nice.
Each list has its own significance and each item, if deemed important enough, will be placed on a list. It actually can be a good exercise in time management. I have to be realistic in what can really be accomplished in the time allowed. Sliding incomplete items to a more convenient time is never a wise strategy. They tend to just build up on the back side, not unlike snow at the end of a plow, until the pile becomes quite depressing. It’s the same concept as bill paying. There is never a more convenient time to take care of them.
This may all sound ridiculous and very stressful, but it actually has the opposite effect. As I get older, I am finding it more and more difficult to remember even my own name at times. This helps, in much the same manner as my defragmenter cleaning up the clutter on my hard drive. If done well, it allows me a chance to relax. If not, well………….
It’s not always seen as an admirable trait, living by lists I mean. Some people may find it an indication of weakness, or senility. Whatever. In my pastoral arts study the other day I was reading about the idea that God deals with lists also. There are lists to be consulted at the end of earthly time, two of them actually. There’s one that you’d want to be on and one that you wouldn’t. We get to choose. I like that. Sometimes He hears us through lists I think. The Book of Books talks about prayers and petitions lifted up to Him. What is a petition, but a fancier more PC way of saying list? I wonder if He’s seen the one about making us a “greener society”?
Anyway, live how you like, but I’ll continue to do my list thing. Then there’s less likelihood that I’ll forget someone or something. If God likes to live that way, then that’s good enough for me.
So I live a life on paper, all cosmically calculated to achieve the objectives. There are wish lists of gifts. There is a calendar list to observe and make sure that I’m not supposed to be three places at once. I can sometimes manage two, but that’s my limit. There are grocery lists, pastoral lists, lists that I’ll check twice, lists of who’s been naughty, which is quite lengthy, and lists of the nice.
Each list has its own significance and each item, if deemed important enough, will be placed on a list. It actually can be a good exercise in time management. I have to be realistic in what can really be accomplished in the time allowed. Sliding incomplete items to a more convenient time is never a wise strategy. They tend to just build up on the back side, not unlike snow at the end of a plow, until the pile becomes quite depressing. It’s the same concept as bill paying. There is never a more convenient time to take care of them.
This may all sound ridiculous and very stressful, but it actually has the opposite effect. As I get older, I am finding it more and more difficult to remember even my own name at times. This helps, in much the same manner as my defragmenter cleaning up the clutter on my hard drive. If done well, it allows me a chance to relax. If not, well………….
It’s not always seen as an admirable trait, living by lists I mean. Some people may find it an indication of weakness, or senility. Whatever. In my pastoral arts study the other day I was reading about the idea that God deals with lists also. There are lists to be consulted at the end of earthly time, two of them actually. There’s one that you’d want to be on and one that you wouldn’t. We get to choose. I like that. Sometimes He hears us through lists I think. The Book of Books talks about prayers and petitions lifted up to Him. What is a petition, but a fancier more PC way of saying list? I wonder if He’s seen the one about making us a “greener society”?
Anyway, live how you like, but I’ll continue to do my list thing. Then there’s less likelihood that I’ll forget someone or something. If God likes to live that way, then that’s good enough for me.
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