Yoda, Priorities and Pathways

I realize that it is Fall and the weather is changing quickly, but this springtime image is one of my favorites.  It carries a lot of meaning for us because this is a picture of the site where we thought of building a house.  We no longer own these cows or, the land.  Things change and we decided our best option was to sell them.

It is interesting how things change through the years.  Many of the hopes and dreams of our youth fade into the reality of our present.  We move forward in the belief that the path we are on is the correct one that will lead us to our dreams.  I believe that if we are in tune with God's Will for our life, that is true, but I also believe that if we are within His Will, he sometimes changes our dreams to match the path He has put us on.

Letting go of one dream and grasping another sometimes takes time and the transition isn't always a smooth one.  I know many people at this stage in life who have "settled for" their current situation.  I hope I never "settle for" but, keep on reaching, striving, doing, working to make a positive difference.  What we do with our lives really does matter even though we often think it doesn't.  The impact of a word or, deed on the life of someone else can reverberate down through generations to make either a positive or, negative impact in the lives of many.  We need to be certain that each and every one is positive or helpful.

The most important things in life have nothing to do with what we accumulate or, the trips we take; they are the things that impact eternity.  Everything in this life should be focused on our relationship with God, not on the things of "self."  By "the things of self" I am referring to those rewards we think we deserve -- trips to foreign lands, big houses, fancy cars, a life of ease.  All of those things are focused on "self."  Instead, the important things are those focused on others.  The Bible is clear that we should first focus on our relationship to God and second, on our relationship to others. 

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.  The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself." -- Mark 12:30-31

We aren't yet certain what the next chapter will bring, but I am looking forward to it.  In the words of Yoda, "Difficult to see.  Always in motion is the future."  (from "The Empire Strikes Back")

Ultimately, there is only one thing that is important for determining the next step in life's journey.  I woke this morning with these words ringing in my head:

"Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.'" -- John 14:6

Heart of the Farm

It stands against the wearing time --

Rusted, used and worn --

With smells of dust and hay and horse

This massive ancient barn.

A place of shelter filled with things

Of wonder to a child

Like harness, old and brittle

Hanging on a wooden stall.

There's a set of scales with hanging weights

Suspended from a chain

Used to weigh the cotton sacks

And calculate the wage

For Pickers paid by the pound

Harvested each day

And stuffed in sacks they drug along

As they stooped under its sway,

The new is parked beside the old

As time has changed all things;

A diesel tractor now is there

Where plow horses once stood

Patiently waiting to be harnessed

To the wagon on which was piled

The heavy sacks of cotton

To be hauled to the gin.

Through it all the barn has stood

Witness of the change

From cotton crop to livestock;

Still the heart of the farm.

Anticipation and Determination

The days are getting shorter and in spite of the omnipresent heat, there are signs that Fall is just around the corner.  From the time I get up in the morning until the sun rises is over an hour.  Dove hunting season begins in less than two weeks; I've seen lots of those silvery-gray bullets darting around the area, practicing their evasive maneuvers.

I'm looking forward to the cooling weather, college football, hunting season and harvest time.  Yes, even in the cattle business there is a harvest time.  For the cow/calf rancher it is when the calves have been weaned and pre-conditioned and are ready to head to wheat pasture for awhile, or possibly straight to the feedlot where they will be fattened for the "final" harvest.

Fall is also a time when many herds are calving.  In fact, Fall calving has begun at our place.  We have a small group of cows that will be calving over the coming weeks.

I enjoy Fall.  Growing up in the Plains my eyes developed a desire to see great distances, unhindered by objects in the way.  Here, in Northeast Texas, the trees block my vision and I often feel enclosed.  When the trees shed their leaves during the Fall and Winter it gives me a sense of being able to see again! -- if only a little further into what is impenetrable greenery during the summer.

Perhaps it is the changing season that is enhancing my anticipatory mood.  I have a sense of change on the horizon and it promises to be exciting.  Hopefully, it will prove to be good change.  I firmly believe it will be and will do all I can to make it so.  The trouble is, right now I have no idea what it will be!  I do know that I am determined to make the best of it.

Embrace the Inevitable

I think we all recognize that change is inevitable.  Sometimes change is gradual such as the slowly aging body, or the appearance of a gray hair, but at other times change is dramatic as in the loss of a job, or a move across the country.  Change happens.

How we adapt to change varies with each individual.  Many people are deeply rooted in the present.  They are like trees which stand amidst the raging change around them.  You find those types of people in every small town.  Many are descended from families that established themselves multiple generations previously.  Others are tumbleweeds.  They may grow in one spot initially, but reach a point where change becomes the norm.  They are constantly moving from one location to another, from one job to another, or from one adventure to the next.

Change is a sign of growth, but it can also be a sign of death and decay.  Change can be cyclical, much like the seasons of the year.  As I age, I see more and more of the cyclicity of change within my own life -- how a change moves me into a new phase in which I grow until reaching a point of diminishing returns (an economics term explained below *) and then another change.  Each of these small cycles dwell within larger cycles such as childhood, adolescence, adulthood and old age.  The ultimate end of our earthly existence is death which is the ultimate change -- especially for those of us who believe that the result of death is new life.

Change is a good thing.  It is going to happen whether we want it to or, not.  Even a stagnant pool of water changes because of the growth of bacteria and microscopic organisms that dwell within it.  We must learn to accept change and respond in ways that benefit us and those with whom we come in contact.  Accept change and make it beneficial.  Embrace it and run with it.  Fighting it only increases stress.

I don't really know why change is on my mind this morning.  I suspect it is some subtle subconscious sense that change is about to happen.  I like change.

* Diminishing returns:  The law of diminishing marginal returns states that, at some point, adding an additional factor of production results in smaller increases in output.

Hope and Change

During the reign of the previous administration -- yes, that word reign was intentional -- I became very disillusioned with the direction of our country.  The pretender's message of Hope and Change had turned into fear and frustration for me.  I had serious doubts that the direction we were being taken could be changed.

I have been pleasantly surprised by the accomplishments of the Trump administration.  I still cringe at his style at times, but I admit openly that he has been effective in many areas.  I suppose it is the rough and tumble world of New York business that created him and that is what we needed.

My hope has been restored to some degree.  There is a long way yet to go to overcome the setbacks of the 8 years of Leftism, but progress is being made.  I remain frustrated that change cannot, or is not, occurring more quickly, but we do seem to be turning to a better direction.

Hope is fragile and it frequently hinges on change.  Now, if we could only make progress through change in our educational system -- primary, secondary and college levels -- that replaces the Leftist garbage with some common sense, perhaps the small hope today will grow more firm.  I fear for the future that has been seeded with land mines of Liberalism through our educational system.  I must have faith that enough will see the light for reason to prevail.

Shaken and Stirred

In my dream
I was alone in a crowd;
Laughed at and scorned.

In my dream
The building shook;
It rolled down the hill.

I stood looking up
And told of my ride;
I was not believed.

I walked away
Dazed;
Confused.

Was it just a dream?

Shaping the Grand Canyon

This week, work has taken me on travels into some old stomping grounds. It is interesting to renew old acquaintances and see old faces. That's the problem though. They remind me that it has been 15 years since I last saw some of them. A lot can change in 15 years.

Time has a way of getting away from us. We are so focused on daily activity -- of pursuing our lives -- that we lose track of the passage of time. It's like going to a High School class reunion and wondering why everyone else has aged so much. You still feel the same and don't notice that you've aged along with them. We see the gradual change in our own lives and accept it easily. Absence for extended periods makes that change seem dramatic when we reconnect.

Our lives move inexorably forward. If we weren't such ephemeral beings in our earthly time it would be as though the Grand Canyon was being carved upon our very substance. Slowly, unceasingly, we would be re-shaped into something unrecognizable to our previous self. I wonder if the process continues into eternity?

Moving

Gather the boxes
And pack them
With the accumulation
Of years of living.

Pause for reflection
At discovering
An object unseen
For ages.

Label and stack --
Where will it go?
How will it fit
Into its new home?

Watch as the truck
Is filled with the things
Acquired by sweat,
By inheritance,

By chance,
By investment.
Life
In transition.

It is the end of
Generations
And the beginning of
What?

New relationships,
New places,
New habits,
New growth.

One hundred and twenty-five
Years of attachment
Uprooted and transported
In a weekend.

_____________________

This past weekend we moved my parents from the town in which my mother was born. She has never lived anywhere else -- until now. My father has lived in that town since taking his first job after graduation from college. Added together, it is 125 years of living in the town where I grew up. They now occupy their new home just a few miles from where I currently live.