Forgetful

Sometimes our world seems very surreal.

I read philosophy and theology and get swept away by all of the thoughts and ideas, the “big picture.” I forget that there is a reality out there. I forget that there are parents mourning their children, men frustrated by another dead-end job lead, college students scared about the future, citizens wondering if the next drunk driver is going to hit them, families trying to decide what to have for dinner, communities seeking to figure out how to best use their resources to benefit everyone, cronies in politics and business grabbing everything they can for themselves, the poor trying to get a share of the pie – whether or not that share is “fair,” children trying to remember their multiplication tables, immigrants wondering if their dreams are going to be dashed, fanatics plotting their next show, artists struggling to get their ideas out. In short, there really is life out there.  There is a point to our ideas, our theologizing, our work. And the point is to help people to live, and to live well – to the fullest.

Everything else is vanity and a chasing after the wind.

But sometimes I just get caught up in the ideas for the sake of the ideas, with no respect of the point: people living. I tend to like to think seemingly just for the sake of thinking. But there is more than that, particularly as a minister (or maybe that really makes no difference). People are in the crossfires of everything we do. People are the point. To help people live well – live fully.

Sometimes I forget.

Transitions

My wife and I have landed.  Moving is such a chaotic thing. Note to anyone who rents their own truck to move: U-hauls (at least the one we had) don’t do well in the mountains. 20 mph up hill through beautiful moutain terrain makes for one long haul.  Especially when we are in a time crunch.

Anyway, we made it. We got everything packed, some professional movers did a great job loading the truck for us, and a team of volunteers did a marvelous job of unloading the truck. All that and I never even had to drive it!

We have spent the last week arranging and unpacking everything that had taken us weeks to load and pack.  I think this was the part that was more fun. I think. We have both decided to not move any time soon. Which I am sure is a great relief to my new employer.

Anyway, I wanted to confirm to anyone who is actually reading this that we are alive. And now that we are moved in and have internet access again, I will hopefully start posting more regularly.