The View from the Vicarge - September 2009

I recently received this curious e-mail:
“I decide to water my garden. As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide it needs washing. As I start towards the garage, I notice today's post on the porch table that I left there earlier. I decide to go through the post before I wash the car. I lay my car keys on the table, put the junk mail in the rubbish bin under the table, and notice that it is full. So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the rubbish first, but then I think, since I'm going to be near the letterbox when I take out the rubbish anyway, I may as well pay the bills first. I take my cheque book off the table, and see that there is only one cheque left. My extra cheques are in my desk in the study, so I go inside the house to my desk where I find the tin of beer I'd been drinking. I'm going to look for my cheques, but first I need to push the beer aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over. The beer is getting warm, and I decide to put it in the fridge to keep it cold. As I head toward the kitchen with the beer, a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye - they need water. I put the beer on the counter and discover my reading glasses that I've been searching for all morning. I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to water the flowers. I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote. Someone left it on the kitchen table. I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, I'll be looking for the remote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the lounge where it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers. I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the floor. So, I set the remote back on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill. Then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.
At the end of the day:
the car isn't washed
the bills aren't paid
there is a warm tin of beer sitting on the counter
the flowers don't have enough water
there is still only 1 cheque in my cheque book
I can't find the remote
I can't find my glasses
and I don't remember what I did with the car keys

Then, when I try to work out why nothing got done today, I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day, and I'm really tired. I realise this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for it, but first I'll check my e-mail...

Do me a favour. Forward this message to everyone you know, because I don't remember who the heck I've sent it to.”

Don't laugh -- if this isn't you yet, your day is coming!!

We lead such busy lives. We charge around like bluebottles trying to get things done. It was just the same in Jesus’ day but he had the solution. He followed his Father’s plan and always made sure he had a day off each week, always made sure he took ‘time-out’ during the day, and made sure his pace of life was slower. Companies that follow Christian principles and ensure staff never have to stay late and take a good lunch-break find that more work gets done more efficiently by a happier workforce. We shouldn’t be surprised – it’s simply following the way of the one who created us.

Following God’s way in all things makes for a life where we can be fully human.
Shalom

Revd Derek Witchell
01296 682320

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