Good afternoon, and welcome. A few days ago, I began looking back over some of the older document files on my home computer. Some of them are twenty or more years old. Many of them are letters or notes written to someone. Some are articles I had written for a church bulletin. Some are articles that were published in the Hays Daily News back when it was a real newspaper and I was invited to be a guest columnist. Some are resumés or some kind of work-related document. It was interesting to go back and read some of the things I had written that many years ago.
I wondered as I was looking through
those files if my kids or grand kids would have any interest at all in reading
some of that after I have passed away.
After all, one can gain quite an impression of someone else just by
reading what they’ve written in the past.
Additionally, pretty much all of my Thursday Thoughts have been saved on
the computer as well. I began these
thoughts, I think, at the start of the Covid pandemic in early 2020. I looked back and found a video from April of
2020. I believe that was pretty much the
beginning.
I started the Thursday Thought as a
way to communicate with my friends and relatives, offering what I hoped was encouragement
and positivity during a time of shuttered businesses, social distancing and fear
of the unknown. It kind of morphed into
an every-Thursday kind of thing that has outlasted the Covid epidemic, a
presidential election, and a lot of change in the international geo-political
scene.
I’ve done thoughts on many topics…topics
that have run the gamut from strictly faith-based to an overview of my week
leading up to Thursday. And this thought
is sort of unique in that I am looking back over the past five or more years,
and even farther when speaking about re-reading some of what I had written a
couple of decades ago.
One thing I saw, but DIDN’T look at
was a resumé that I compiled those decades past. I intentionally didn’t look at it because
even the thought of having to go out and find a job now is one of those giant
UGH thoughts. I think I’d rather have a
wood splinter under my finger nail for a few days than to have to look for
work. Even looking at an old resumé
would bring back thoughts and emotions that I don’t need right now.
Yes, I have a job right now. I’ve had this one since 2012. I coordinate many of the administrative functions
at our church. I have an office. I have a computer. I have a desk. There is an office manager who answers the
phone and the door among about a million other duties. I plan Bible classes. I prepare classes and once in a while a
sermon. I read. I study.
I visit members. I do all those
things and more.
However, often it doesn’t seem like a job. Mostly it’s more like, “OK, I get to do this
today. Let’s see where this goes.” My hours are generally when the office is
open. However, if I need a half day for
something, I can take that half-day. If
I want to leave early, I can do that. I
can set a medical or other appointment pretty much at will.
I get a stipend for what I do, and
that’s enough. The benefits far outweigh
any lack of pay. I’m not sitting home
wondering why the clock hands don’t move more quickly. I’m not letting my brain turn into mush
because of lack of use. I can interact
with others on a regular basis. And, I
can be of service to others. I can be useful.
I can do my part to make this corner of the world a little better for my
having been here.
Later today, I’ll leave the office and
go visit a member at their home. I don’t
do this every day, but it’s not an unusual thing for me to do either. Earlier today I started coordinating some
help for an older member to move out of a larger house into a smaller
apartment. Tomorrow, I’ll order some
pizza to be delivered Sunday for a meeting we’re having following our
services. I’d also like to visit a
member couple this weekend…the husband has Lou Gehrig’s disease and has been
having some increased physical difficulty recently.
These kinds of things I don’t look at
as work. They are ways…sometimes very small
ways…I can be of help…be of service…help ease the load of someone else.
So, yes, I have a job, to go back a
few minutes. But it’s one for which no
resumé is needed…nor wanted. I’ll keep
the resumé file. Maybe my kids would
like to look at it sometime. But I have
no interest right now in reviewing it.
It can remain unopened.
Thanks for coming with me in this
thought today. May God bless you this
day. And may you see and express your
thanks for those blessings.
