Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
(not) Busy
I am not doing a resolution per se this year but I am finding my self thinking about the word busy. We are getting our, uh, somewhat late Christmas letter ready to go out, and I have determined to not use that four-letter word.
So, some of my thoughts.
~~~
Nothing in Scripture supports an assumption of our culture: that the busier you are, the more important you are (what does being "more important" even mean when we are all like slugs, albeit beloved slugs, made in the image of the Holy God?).
The ESV uses the word only a few times ~ once as a passing excuse in I Kings 20:40; twice in reference to being busy with "wicked deeds" or "iniquity" (Psalm 141:4 and Isaiah 32:6); once contrasting being "busy at work" with being "busybodies" (II Thessalonians 3:11); and twice in Ecclesiastes (1:13 and 3:10), where the poet says he has seen the "business that God has given the children of man to be busy with."
~~~
Maybe "busy" is just what we do in our twenty-four hours a day. And everyone fills them in some way, so maybe we are all equally "busy." Maybe it implies productivity - but that idol cannot stand.
~~~
Even the vegetables know that feeling busy does not solve anything or reflect the face of God, it only makes me unwilling to serve others and serves as an excuse for my failure.
So, some of my thoughts.
~~~
Nothing in Scripture supports an assumption of our culture: that the busier you are, the more important you are (what does being "more important" even mean when we are all like slugs, albeit beloved slugs, made in the image of the Holy God?).
The ESV uses the word only a few times ~ once as a passing excuse in I Kings 20:40; twice in reference to being busy with "wicked deeds" or "iniquity" (Psalm 141:4 and Isaiah 32:6); once contrasting being "busy at work" with being "busybodies" (II Thessalonians 3:11); and twice in Ecclesiastes (1:13 and 3:10), where the poet says he has seen the "business that God has given the children of man to be busy with."
~~~
Maybe "busy" is just what we do in our twenty-four hours a day. And everyone fills them in some way, so maybe we are all equally "busy." Maybe it implies productivity - but that idol cannot stand.
~~~
Even the vegetables know that feeling busy does not solve anything or reflect the face of God, it only makes me unwilling to serve others and serves as an excuse for my failure.
I'm busy, busy, dreadfully busy
You've no idea what I have to do.
Busy, busy, shockingly busy
Much, much too busy for you.
~~~
And yes, as I was formatting that, Miss Dog Lover came asking me to fix her belt on the back of her top. I nearly said it. I nearly said: "I'm busy." Bleh.
~~~
Why do I wear busy like a badge of some sort of goodness? Jesus said in John 17:4 that HE had "accomplished the work" that God gave Him to do. Could it be possible I am so arrogant I think God has given me more to do than He gave the Christ?
~~~
Challenge to self: no more self-righteous being too busy to love God and the people He made in His image. Care to join me in 2012?
And yes, as I was formatting that, Miss Dog Lover came asking me to fix her belt on the back of her top. I nearly said it. I nearly said: "I'm busy." Bleh.
~~~
Why do I wear busy like a badge of some sort of goodness? Jesus said in John 17:4 that HE had "accomplished the work" that God gave Him to do. Could it be possible I am so arrogant I think God has given me more to do than He gave the Christ?
~~~
Challenge to self: no more self-righteous being too busy to love God and the people He made in His image. Care to join me in 2012?
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Whaddya Think?
Devastatingly Handsome and I are planning a remodel on the family room, a basement room. Pine beaded walls, lots of shelving, and a bit of wall painted acanthus, I think, and Devastatingly wants ceramic tile floor. Today we went and looked and came home with the idea to use this area rug and the tile shown under it...
do you think that tile works?
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