June 2018
Saying Good-bye
18/06/18 12:33
Saying Good-bye to Old Friends
This week we had to say good-bye to several old friends. We purposefully broke off our relationship with some while others just died. Saying good-bye can be difficult and sad. Even if these old friends we get rid of are just things.
Died: When we moved into our house in 1990 the landlord left a hose for us to use. I am not sure how old the hose was when we started our connection. This week I was working picking up things and it started raining although the sky was blue. I looked up to the neighbors to see if they were spraying me. Then I followed the water back down to the hose – a slit about 2 inches long right in the middle. It was time to say good-bye.
I have been nursing the cordless screwdriver along for a long time but this week its heart gave up. Sad! I got that power tool while working on the Hayloft Project (building out the Hayloft for our church room in 2003-2004). So many memories and good times together.
Our ex-landlord still owned the house next door – until May 1. Just like the hose when we moved in we could use the ladder from next door. We needed it to pick cherries among other things. Now the new owner kidnapped it. The ladder is gone and the cherries were ripe. The new ladder is taller and more stable but it is just not the same without the old friend. (We had a good harvest, coming in at about 180 lbs = 82 kilo! The birds can have the rest)
Clutter: We are working at de-cluttering our house. Katy works 45 minutes a day on going through cupboards. And it is amazing what we have hidden in there. We have cameras that use film. One was Katy’s camera when she came to Europe the first time and one was my Kodak Instamatic that used the cube flashbulbs. I think it was from pre-teenage years. We have thrown away cassette tapes and video tapes, no 8-tracks found so far. We have gotten rid of a couple of books, some hard to part with because they were gifts from people. Katy also found 5 old pair of eye glasses of mine. I wrote a man from my English class who is in the Rotary Club asking if they collect “glasses”. He wrote asking if I could send a picture. A picture? Strange! Then it dawned on me he was thinking of drinking glasses and not eye glasses. HA! So why did I keep them?
Yeah, just why do we gather and collect so much STUFF? And why do we hang on it so much? Jesus said we should not store up treasures on earth where rust and moths destroy. And Paul said we should not trust in what is seen which is temporal. Stuff is going to strangle our society. And the love of Stuff keeps our eyes on things on earth instead of turning our eyes towards God and things that are unseen and eternal.
I think I just spied another video from the 80’s I used in an English class years ago. I wonder if there is enough room in the garbage can for one more video…
This week we had to say good-bye to several old friends. We purposefully broke off our relationship with some while others just died. Saying good-bye can be difficult and sad. Even if these old friends we get rid of are just things.
Died: When we moved into our house in 1990 the landlord left a hose for us to use. I am not sure how old the hose was when we started our connection. This week I was working picking up things and it started raining although the sky was blue. I looked up to the neighbors to see if they were spraying me. Then I followed the water back down to the hose – a slit about 2 inches long right in the middle. It was time to say good-bye.
I have been nursing the cordless screwdriver along for a long time but this week its heart gave up. Sad! I got that power tool while working on the Hayloft Project (building out the Hayloft for our church room in 2003-2004). So many memories and good times together.
Our ex-landlord still owned the house next door – until May 1. Just like the hose when we moved in we could use the ladder from next door. We needed it to pick cherries among other things. Now the new owner kidnapped it. The ladder is gone and the cherries were ripe. The new ladder is taller and more stable but it is just not the same without the old friend. (We had a good harvest, coming in at about 180 lbs = 82 kilo! The birds can have the rest)
Clutter: We are working at de-cluttering our house. Katy works 45 minutes a day on going through cupboards. And it is amazing what we have hidden in there. We have cameras that use film. One was Katy’s camera when she came to Europe the first time and one was my Kodak Instamatic that used the cube flashbulbs. I think it was from pre-teenage years. We have thrown away cassette tapes and video tapes, no 8-tracks found so far. We have gotten rid of a couple of books, some hard to part with because they were gifts from people. Katy also found 5 old pair of eye glasses of mine. I wrote a man from my English class who is in the Rotary Club asking if they collect “glasses”. He wrote asking if I could send a picture. A picture? Strange! Then it dawned on me he was thinking of drinking glasses and not eye glasses. HA! So why did I keep them?
Yeah, just why do we gather and collect so much STUFF? And why do we hang on it so much? Jesus said we should not store up treasures on earth where rust and moths destroy. And Paul said we should not trust in what is seen which is temporal. Stuff is going to strangle our society. And the love of Stuff keeps our eyes on things on earth instead of turning our eyes towards God and things that are unseen and eternal.
I think I just spied another video from the 80’s I used in an English class years ago. I wonder if there is enough room in the garbage can for one more video…
