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Remember

Jan 31, 2008 faith

Today is yet another day of sad remembrance. Though not a close friend, the loss of co-worker Shirley Wilson hits very close to home. We greeted one another in passing, sat across from one another in meetings, but never shared a meal or delved into our personal lives… yet, the news of her death leaves me reeling. Shirley lost her own son a couple of years ago, and came back to work with her patented smile and fervor for doing her job. Everybody loved Shirley, whether close to her or not.

But it goes deeper. I’m sick of hearing about the economy and the war and politics. I’m sorry for those whose lives are identified by possessions, position, and pursuit of dead end glory. I’m deeply disturbed at how I’m often trapped in these mindsets, painted into corners by a way of life. Not new news I’d like to change my lifestyle, significantly, but how?

If it were just me, and maybe my wife, we could wait out the housing downturn (which in my view is the result of greed on the part of builders and mortgage companies, and poor finance management on the part of the conumer, but that’s another post), sell our house and settle into a much simpler, smaller dwelling, in a small town where there is far less congestion, crime, and and overall slower pace.

This is how I felt about the scenario yesterday.

Today another fallen soldier in the midst of corporate mahem and I’m thinking, wait, I may not have tomorrow. Not that this is the first time I’ve ever thought about my mortality, but today I’m actually just done being down, it’s time for action. If I (we) keep waiting for the “right time”, there will never be a right time. I don’t want to die working at something, I want to work for something. There isn’t much I know how to do outside of what I do with business and technology, except music, and I need to feed my family, etc. There has to be a way for me to use my skills and gifts to provide, yet do something that matters.

I need to remember, however, that while I have to be faithful to seek God’s will, I must take action when I sense it. Shirley’s home with the Lord, I beleive, and I think she’d want each of us to pray for her family. But she’d also want us to rejoice in knowing the joy she had for life and remember each day that passes is one less we’ll have to do what brings peace to our soul.

When the walls around you start to shake and feel like they’re tumbling down
And deep desperation is taking your heart in directions you’ve never gone
Remember it’s never too late for change
Never too late too late for grace
Never too late to remember

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