Is it Really July?

Tuesday morning, July 1, 2008
How in the wide-world did it get to be July 1? Why, we still have the Christmas tree up and blinking in my house! Old age must fight against time passing by so quickly and for good reason: we senior citizens are using up our days much too fast. Yes, I know that everyone is looking forward to Heaven, but I still have a few things that I want to do here on good ole Mother Earth before I board the flight that will take me to that Celestial City. The Bible tells me that God has my days numbered (yours too!) but for some reason, it doesn’t tell me how many He allocated to my account. That means that I feel the need to live each day to the fullest, to squeeze every bit of life out of every moment, not to miss any of the good stuff, and finally to arrive at Home completely spent and ready for whatever He has prepared for those who love Him and are the called according to His purpose!
I have no idea how he did it but my paternal grandfather managed to do just that. One morning at the ripe old age of 98, after having lived one incredibly full life, he finished breakfast, told his wife that it was good to be alive, sat down to read the morning paper and then and there he boarded the flight that took him to that Celestial City—no pain, no illness, no shortness of breath, no financial woes, no enemies, no regrets (none that I know of!)—where he began living the life for which he was created. Not bad, if you ask me!
There were some things about his life that simply would not fit into today’s society. For example, he owned and operated the business his father started back in 1866, even survived the Great Depression (barely, but he did survive it!); he walked from his office to his house for lunch every day, where he enjoyed the cooking of the best cook I have ever known; after lunch, he enjoyed a brief nap and, then, a time of gardening (he always had a huge garden and gave most of its fruit away), then back to his office; around 4:00 in the afternoon, he either went fishing or quail hunting or dove shooting, depending upon the time of the year, unless, of course, he had a funeral service to direct (during my teens, he took me with me on most of the excursions!); of course, there were the several fishing trips to Florida he made every year (no schedule, he would just wake up one day and decide to go to Florida for a couple of days of fishing!); he meticulously took care of everything he owned—everything—probably as a result of the Great Depression; I never saw him throw anything away—never; he rose early every morning and went to bed early every night but only after a bedtime toddy (Scotch! I never saw him intoxicated—never!); and, finally, he maintained a scuppernong arbor—scrupulously so—for as long as he lived.
In today’s society, well, life is just too busy and too complicated for such an incredible lifestyle and, trust me on this (not much else, but this!): it is a bad thing—really bad! Most people are slaves to their employers, to pride, to peer pressure, to church, to debt, or to something that robs them of life and, sadly, most of them blame someone else for their dilemma. I never heard my grandfather blame anyone for anything; he didn’t have to because he was never anyone’s or anything’s slave, even during the Great Depression. Oh, he had some difficult times—very difficult—but he managed never to lose focus, to get sidetracked, to be drawn into things that tend to enslave.
I really do think Paul was on to something when he mentioned that we should never lose sight of the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ; that we should work with our hands and attend to our own business!

Blessings and Happy July!!

Mac