“Why tip someone for a job I’m capable of doing myself? I can deliver food. I can drive a taxi. I can, and do, cut my own hair. I did however, tip my urologist, because I am unable to pulverize my own kidney stones.”  ~  Dwight Schrute, on the office

I turned thirty this week and Erin Willingham prayed that I would not become old and shriveled. She had been asked to pray for me as I get older, but her wording made me laugh. Of course it is only natural to want to avoid some parts of life. Still getting shriveled is one of those things we can not control (apart from a strange full body Botox injection… ah, where society is heading… ). So I laughed, because ageing is a part of life—the only alternative is well, the opposite being alive!*¹

I know age is all relative. While 30 is ancient to you, it is young for your parents. Still, every transition into a new decade of life always makes me consider where I have come. Where did I anticipate I would be, where do I want to move from here? What did my twenties mean to me, to my family, to humanity… (I am never so humble to think all of society does not hinge on me… ha!)

I recently came across a picture of the jell-o stapler we gave to Greg a few years ago. The encased stapler was a reference to The Office, which Greg and I both enjoy. Flipping through I saw a picture of Aaron holding the stapler and I could not help but think how much he has changed, from tiny six grader to roaming the halls of high school. Of course he is still just as sarcastic—some things never change!

We make many decisions that impact our lives, time keeps moving us along. And moments never return. Though I look back at Aaron or any number of you, even myself, we can never get back to those moments. They a static, stuck, fixed so that they can only be replayed—never changed.*² And while we dream about the future, it is something that never moves beyond our imagination. Impacting life no more than our nightly dreams. All that we have is this moment. The magical present, where we are not stuck nor a myth. Instead, in the now, we touch reality and impact.

In the now we change society—which does hinge on us, the church. This is the job we a capable of doing! ~ If we seize the moment!

*¹ Laughing during prayer seems out of place. And it is when we are not focused on God. But it not always a bad thing. God invites into relationship and I don’t imagine He expects us to always be serious. Not to say we ever stop respecting Him, but to laugh at life, at ourselves and to invite God into the joy… that seems right.

*² Time travel? As an avid Lost fan, I have been considering the topic. I am not sure if it is possible. BUT, if it is, I do not believe a traveler can change the future. In explanation: either a traveler would be unable to create change or—more likely—they would help to create the future that already exists. To rephrase, the traveler would have always traveled, history would have already experienced them in 1950 though they did not travel until 2020. I know smart people have supposed alternate or parallel universes, but as someone with an avid imagination—our mind’s eye can get the best of any of us! Even a brilliant scientist! – Of course, who knows. Maybe three are 58 versions of me and you out there. I wonder what is the best version? (I have digressed, but thank you for making it to this point!)