Thursday, March 22, 2018

Forward Forty


Earlier this week I saw this video (above) of women and men over 100 years old. They were running! Setting records for their age group!

And short track running wasn't their only accomplishment! This was a full USATF event, with world records set in longer races, the high jump and shot put. "USATF" is short for "USA Track and Field," the group that organized this indoor masters championship meet and released this statement on Saturday March 17:
"Centenarians proved reaching your athletic goals is possible at any age Saturday at the 2018 USATF Masters Indoor Championships, with four world records set by athletes 100 years or older, for a total of eight world records combined..."
That was inspiring! Not that I'm wanting to go out and run races, but I'm inspired to think about all the things I can do in the next 40 years! Heck, that's almost another adult lifetime. So much has happened since 1978. What could happen in the next 40?

I'm not much for advance planning, though, at this point, I have decided, pretty much, that I'll keep working for Metro Transit until I'm 70. I'll turn that age in 2026. If I decide to stop working then, and if I'm still in good mental and physical shape, maybe it'll be time to leap back into the pastoral saddle. Or perhaps I'll pursue that advanced degree so I can regain credibility as a Christian teacher. If I did, there's no reason, beyond health concerns, that I couldn't teach or write until I'm in my 90s or beyond. Who knows? 40 years ago I had no idea I'd be doing what I've done since then.

So the inspiration I gain from watching those elders run isn't about wanting to run races, though I'm not excluding the possibility. But it's inspiring in the sense that I can see I'm not alone in wanting to keep myself strong and flexible, as long as we can, and not give in to the idea that age means becoming less active.

In about 40 years I'll be almost 102, unless the Lord has other plans. But because I don't know what God's plan is, I'm deciding to do what I can to stay strong and healthy. I'm planning to live as if someday I'll be that age.

Will you join me? It'll be nice to have company along the way.

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Wednesday, March 14, 2018

Giving

It's time to get a start on taxes. Toni and I have hired Tim Robinson to prepare the forms ever since Toni began her massage therapy business out in Cokato. All I do is gather the info. Then we send it on to Tim. It's probably been about 12 years now. Tim does good work.

I just now tallied our charitable contributions. Only some of them are deductible. We give some funds directly to people who are in mission work. I'm thankful we can do that. As I've been tallying, I see there's one or two missionary types that we've gotten behind on supporting.

The Lord has taken such good care of us. Now, these days, our income exceeds our expenses. That's different than it was when we first moved to Roseville. But even when our income was low, and we needed to spend savings for month to month expenses, we've always given money away, mostly to people in ministry and churches. God is so good!

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Sunday, March 11, 2018

Get Moving!

Sometimes I just need to get moving. Today I've spent way too much time thinking about the past... this time it was triggered by some posts on facebook that got me looking at a old high school annual book. I was quite immature and awkward during those years, and, as I look back, I think about all the opportunities I missed. I was doing some other things at the same time, recording and balancing financial accounts, but I kept going back to the past and all the people I'd love to talk with again -- and not all of them were girls.

In any case, as I spent that time, I wasn't getting exercise, I wasn't picking up the house or cleaning the kitchen, and the financial work I meant to do is still half done. So, now, I just need to get moving for awhile. I've taken care of the organics recycling and now I'll tackle the kitchen cleanup. Then maybe I can get back to this desk work with more focus on the tasks at hand.

I'm sure there's some sort of Bible verse that connects with this... we aren't people of the past. The Lord always pushes us on to whatever is next, with full assurance of forgiveness for previous missed opportunities.

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Saturday, March 3, 2018

The Limits of Christian Morality

In my last post I mentioned that the arms (or gun) control debate has become the (main) topic of conversation online these days. I said "I like to say I'm learning through the conversations, and I am."

One thing I'm learning, that I woke up thinking about before 4 AM today, leads to this post about "The Limits of Christian Morality." Personally I don't believe there should be limits on which areas or arenas of life where Christ reigns supreme. But I'm learning that some people do, or, at least, they haven't looked carefully at certain issues through Christ's eyes. Some people seem to leave Christ centered teaching behind as they venture, for example, into areas such as their personal finances. Some don't consider Jesus' teachings as applying to their personal sexual relationships. Others seem to do it in regard to the right to bear arms. This last point is what I've been learning about in recent days.

The American second amendment right to bear arms isn't really about self-defense. It's actually, as two of my friends have written, more about having arms at the ready in case it would be necessary to rise up against a despotic or tyrannical government as the early Americans did in the Revolutionary War, or, I'd add, as the southern states did in what we now call the Civil War.

But I wonder whether Christian morality can stretch far enough to justify violence in defense of freedom, or whether such justification needs to come from other sources, from teachings that don't harmonize with the ways and words of Jesus. I'm hoping that someone from the Christian community can show me how this is done. If not, I believe such rationale would point out that this is one more area where Christians leave Christianity behind.

I'm hoping to say more about this later.

God's peace to you all.

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