Faith Works 7-15-17

Faith Works 7-15-17

Jeff Gill

 

Halfway along through the summer

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Some will bemoan my gloomy observation that we are now, July 15, halfway through the classic American summer.

 

We're past the astronomical summer start of June 21 and the solstice; you can get technical with Memorial Day and Labor Day.

 

And kids go back to school about August 22 (depending on your district, check to be sure), with some athletes and musicians starting into training camps in just a week or two.

 

But basically, we think in the American Midwest of summer being June, July, and August, and this is the halfway point. A good time to assess, and make course corrections if called for.

 

What did you start out intending to do this summer? Paint the patio furniture? Get more exercise? Lose weight? Pray regularly in the morning? Visit some different church gatherings?

 

If you said you wanted to go somewhere or do something this summer, still believe it was a good idea, and haven't checked that off the list yet, then good news: it's not too late! Go for it, but make a plan.

 

Occasionally, especially for those of us for whom summer is over about the time the Hartford Fair wraps up (which gives some of us four weeks, tops), there's a grim realization that we can't do what we meant to do this summer. The two week trip isn't happening. The twenty pounds are not coming off by September. The reading plan is going to become a nightmare if we start now.

 

So good news even so: this is an ideal point to reassess. Stop, calm your mind, take out a piece of paper and a pencil, and work within your limitations. "Good enough" can be great when you get done and realize what you did, as opposed to what you intended.

 

Intentions can be a real burden, honestly.

 

What is do-able, and what is next? If I had any pastoral advice for you all, the congregation of the column, it would be simple, "good enough" things.

 

Eat a little more plant and vegetable material. Get an extra salad in this week. Forget the whatabouts (what about sugar? what about organic? what about vegetarian?) and just say "I will have a salad today." With or without grilled chicken? No, you're over-thinking this one. Just have a salad. Make an extra veg side dish next time you cook. A little more. Good, enough.

 

I'd counsel you to go take a walk. The whatabouts ask "what about how far? what about how often? what about how fast?" Nah, just take a walk. Around the block? Sure, it's better than the sofa for the next twenty minutes! Oh, you ask, I need to walk twenty minutes? No, overthinking. Maybe fifteen, maybe thirty; if you like the path and the weather and the company, maybe sixty. Just take a walk.

 

And likewise prayer. Pray for someone. "What about who I should pray for?" Okay, whatabout, I'll give you this one. Pray for someone else. Otherwise, how you pray, how long, where you sit, how many you pray for: nope, not going there. You'll know. A good enough prayer is spending some time focusing your heart and mind towards the power of God blessing someone not at your address. Oh, and you can pray while walking! Or not, good enough.

 

Learn something new. Every day? Ha, almost caught me. Yeah, often is good, but it's not a check-off. Maybe two things learned today, nothing tomorrow; learn something new. Stretch your mind. Yes, flipping through a travel magazine counts, or even a web page if you look closely, read some captions, think about life in a different place. Something new, learn something now and then.

 

And wonder. Experience wonder, at a cloud, a sunset, a newly opened flower. Oh, nature is what it's about? NO. How might you experience wonder? For me, sunrises are good, yes even in the summer. It's easier in the winter, I'll grant you. Look closely at the world, whether a brick pavement's pattern or the scattering of stars at dusk. But make sure you consume as much wonder as you do junk food, if not more.

 

Be blessed with whatever you do with the rest of your summer: I suspect if you put some effort into it, it will be good enough.

 

Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and pastor in Licking County; he likes sunrises and sunsets, but rainbows aren't bad at all. Tell him where you experience wonder at knapsack77@gmail.com, or follow @Knapsack on Twitter.