A Labyrinthine Journey: Soon Coming in 3-D

In a few days we will be celebrating Labor Day in the States. For most of us we see it as an extra day off. It has become the bookend to Memorial Day, the ending of the recreational summer. School is starting and campers are put away, but we enjoy one last day to have picnics and relax.

I usually take some time to remember my Grandfathers. Both of them worked on the railroad for the Chicago Northwestern line. One was an engineer, the other a brakeman and conductor. They both worked hard to support their families until their bodies were too worn out to work any longer. Because of them many people made it from one city to the next and many tons of goods were carried from origin to destination. I give thanks for them and for all those today whose labor I depend upon.

These are the ones who use their bodies and intellect to produce the things that we usually take for granted. If it is in the store, someone had to grow it, mine it, manufacture it, package it, deliver it, and somehow make it available to you. Labor Day to me is a time to remember how truly connected we are to one another.

It is also a good time to remember that each of these someones is a person who is loved and cared for. A son, a daughter, maybe a parent, a grandchild, a husband or wife, a friend, and even a neighbor. Each a person of priceless worth not because of what they labor to produce and deliver, but because they are a person created in the image of God and beloved by that Creator.

On a business spreadsheet they might be a number or a cost of production unit, but we do best to remember that each one is first of all a person. A person with loves and dreams, with pains and sorrows, with reasons to weep and occasions for laughter and song. No matter what language they speak or the color of their skin we share one Creator.

So, take some time this weekend and look around your life. Then give thanks for those who enabled you to have all you have. And remember that they are also beloved by the same God who loves you. With that gratitude we also need to express God’s compassion with our care and our seeking justice in all parts of this world.

One of those nice things about electronic tools is that they can be rebooted. having troubles with your smart phone? Pull the battery and let it reset and reboot itself. Getting stuck with Windows? (or even Linux) Reboot.Clear out the cache, start with new readings of the program instructions or the data.

Nine times out of Ten that gets your electronics back on track.

Too bad we can’t do that with life.

I know, there are people who try to write and encourage people to just restart their own inner programming to fix their own emotional and spiritual problems. I’ve read the articles, I looked at the books. I’ve even tried some of the ideas.

It isn’t really that easy.

Sure, I can reboot how I handle (mishandle) the tasks in my life and it works for a couple days maybe. Sure I can try the latest new idea and a new sense of freshness comes for a few days. I can have some mountain top experience that might lift my spirits for a couple weeks.

But I just need a new “fix” sooner or later. The deeper change doesn’t cover things up and each “fix” has less of an impact on my life. Really.

For the last few months I’ve been in really need of that magic fix. The depression has been especially deep. The sense of burnout has been deeper and more profound. The procrastination has been more debilitating than I ever remember. And none of the “fixes” have worked.

A couple months ago, someone came into my office holding some sizeable chunks of concrete. The steps leading into the church were falling apart. Our trustees started looking and talking about the issue. They explored all kinds of ways to patch what had broken and to put down some nice carpet to make it usable for a while.

But every scenario led them to know that in 2-3 years they would be doing it all over again and more of it.

So they decided to tear the steps out and put in something entirely new. Sure it was a major inconvenience and mess for a while. And there are still a couple things left to finish the project. Some people haven’t been too happy with both what they did and the cost of it. But they believed they did what needed to be done the long term.

I’m afraid that is what God is doing with me. Illusions stripped away and old dreams torn down. I have felt more lost in life than I ever have been. Yet, I am believing that this is what needs to be done.

I want to know what all this means in life and ministry and future and even writing (they are all valued pieces), but that knowledge is not coming. So I have to trust the deeper reboot in my life. A clearing the cache of what I thought my life would be and seeing how God starts it all back up again.

Instead of seconds, this looks like months.

Sigh.