The Wisdom of Paying Attention

The day started out cool and cloudy.  Then a few spritzes of shower came through.  Now the sun is shining and things are warming up some.  There was just enough rain to clean off the leaves of the trees that are blossoming out in reds, yellows, and some browns.  The tomato vines are dead; but there are some green tomatoes on them that we can bring in and try to ripen.  Things have slowed considerably outdoors in the past couple of weeks, and the sun is setting ever more quickly and is delaying rising more each day.

Fall.  Autumn.  Whichever you call it, this season is full of conundrum and contrast.  The first part of the season is a flurry of ripening and production.  Tomatoes ripen at a fast pace.  Flowers start to go to seed (if they produce seeds).  Roses begin to bloom again.  Mums and other fall flowers begin to bloom.  Grass, it seems, takes off and grows…a lot.

Yet it is also the beginning of shut-down.  Leaves on trees begin to ever so slightly droop and change color at the edges.  Vines don’t spread much.  Plants that have already produced their fruit begin to look ragged and haggard.  It’s noticeably cooler now than it was just a couple of weeks ago.

It doesn’t take long to make the change.  A few cooler nights and a couple of frosts enhance any changes already in the making.  Even people who appreciate the colors and cooler temperatures are beginning to think about hunkering down for the long winter ahead.  Many of us begin, perhaps unconsciously, to bring on extra provisions.  We fill the freezer and canning jars.  We break out the sweaters and jackets.  We start wearing extra layers.  We check on things like hats and gloves, boots and shovels, de-icer and winter tires.

And so it goes (to borrow a phrase).  We can’t change anything about the onrush of fall and winter.  Oh, we may move to Florida for the winter, but we can’t change anything either here or there having to do with the weather or the environment.

I don’t know how many more times I’ll prepare for winter.  I do know that I’ve already prepared for winter many more times than I have yet to go.  But I also know that the One who created autumn, winter, the change of seasons, and all that go with it is the true Unchanging One…that however many more I have to prepare for, He will be there with me encouraging, strengthening, leading.  I’d be wise to pay attention to Him.

Whatever Happens

It’s a cold, wet, dreary day in Wichita today.  The temperature is 44 degrees.  The rain has started.  The clouds have thickened.  It’s one of those days when you’re glad you’re inside, the furnace works, and you have some hot chocolate mix in the pantry left over from last year.

These kinds of days are needed from time to time if for no other reason than to remind us of the glory of the sun and its warming rays.  This truly is one of those things where we have to experience what it’s like to NOT have something in order to appreciate it more when we DO have it.

These kinds of days also tend to change the attitudes of people.  I know that I tend to become more contemplative and yet more restless.  I sometimes wonder if the gloom of the outdoors somehow comes upon me in a personal way as I sort of wander, sometimes rather aimlessly, through the day.

I really think that there is something to the winter blues and the effect that daylight has on people.  I like to turn on the lights in the house and open the windows to let in as much light as possible.  I don’t like dark areas or shadowy parts of the house.  And I like to have plenty of light where I work.

It’s days like today that force me to smile when I’d rather not; that compel me to be cheerful when I’d rather complain; to talk with someone when I’d rather sit in the corner.  God’s blessings continue to come whether it’s raining or sunny; whether there’s a foot of snow on the ground or the roses are blooming.  It seems the least I can do is be grateful for His provision and care.

They say it will be in the mid 60’s tomorrow.  And that it will continue to warm up for a day or two before coming back into the 50’s later next week.  That’s the normal course of things for October.  Spring in reverse.  So we enjoy the days of sun and pleasant breeze.  And we work to do more than just tolerate the days of rain and wind.

The saving grace in all of this, for those of us who like long days and lots of light is that the shortest day of the year is a mere two months or so away; then the days again become ever so gradually longer and longer.  I’m counting down the days.  I’m already looking forward to spring.  And I know that whatever happens, God is there.

By Today's Standards...

We bought our first real PC in about 1990.  It was a pretty much up to date machine with an 80286 processor, 40mb hard drive, 5 ¼ floppy drive, 3 ½ floppy drive, and 24 pin printer.  It had 1mb RAM and we early on bought a math co-processor for the motherboard.

The machine was loaded with a program that had a word processor, data base, and spreadsheet (Not Microsoft Office).  It also had a few other bells and whistles, and generally was a good machine on which to learn how a computer worked and get used to MS-DOS instructions.

We paid handsomely for the machine.  It seems to me like we paid about $2,000 for the machine all together.  At the time, it was the best thing since sliced bread, and we’ve never been without some kind of computing machine since then.

By today’s standards, however, a 286 computer with a 5 ¼ floppy is very quaint.  It’s old, slow, cumbersome, has no Internet capability, has a monochrome monitor, and no CD/DVD drive.  It will not know what to do with Windows software, and couldn’t handle Office or any of the other software of today (with the possible exception of  Solitaire).

I have to wonder if some of us have become, in many ways, like the 286 computer in the modern age.  We have our traditions, ideas, and dogmas.  We cling to the times when we were growing up as the “best of times.”  We wish we could go back to those times and often rue the day when something happened in our lives that changed everything.

No, things aren’t perfect today by any stretch of the imagination.  But we have, by the grace of God, made some substantial improvements.  We have integrated bathrooms and eateries.  We have effective treatments for strokes and heart attacks.  We’ve conquered smallpox and have substantially reduced the chances of contracting other illnesses.  The world no longer has an Iron Curtain.  Africa is no longer the “dark continent.”

And we’ve progressed in other, less tangible ways.  Our understanding of how the universe works has gotten more precise, even though there is much yet to learn.  Christians have effectively used mass media to spread the message of Jesus Christ.  And we’ve grown in how we understand and relate to others (if we’d only use what we now know).

I have no desire to go back to 1956, 1990, or any other year past.  I like it where I am, right now, in this place at this time.  The 286 computer has no place on my desk, or in my mind other than a memory.  Those who continually desire to live in the past do themselves and those they interact with a great disservice, and are usually not very pleasant to be around.  It’s one thing to reminisce; it’s quite another to live in that era.