Welcome Back

The dark clouds gathered: they loomed on the horizon with foreboding certainty. I could always feel it in my bones as my heart was dropping. The harsh reality of life was approaching: mid August arrived too quickly. Playing in the walnut tree in the back yard, the reality that summer break was nearing its end and school was calling its wayward citizens back, hit me hard. Opening day snuck up on me, much like it did every year.

Every minute left in my summer became more and more precious. How could I maximize my remaining time of freedom? The usual suspects came to mind: stay up longer. Yes! If I stay up just two more hours a night, it is like getting an extra day out of summer every 8 days. After about 3 days, my zombie walk forced me into taking mid-day naps. Drats! What else? My bank had some money in it so it was time to pamper myself with a glut of comic books, model airplanes, and army men.

There was always the play-up my sadness to my mom plan, (don’t even waste your time with dad because he would just laugh). Maybe, if I moped just enough while behaving like an angel, she might take us to King’s Island, Cedar point, or maybe even a Red’s game. It rarely worked, but it was always worth a shot.

For two months, I had lived carelessly: wasting my days with mindless day-dreaming, playing games, sleeping-in, and riding my bike around the neighborhood in dizzying circles. What was I thinking? Well, perhaps ‘thinking’ is not the best choice of word: little thought went into these months. I avoided thinking of time entirely, let alone thinking about sitting and being tortured with books, multiplication charts, and the migration patterns of little birds. I don’t know if I dreaded the beginning of school or the end of summer more.

Isn’t it funny how life imitates our childhood? There comes a point when people realize that their time on this earth is nearing an end, or it is at least finite. They scramble to fill their remaining days with things: New cars, vacations to exotic locals, new hairstyles, tummy-tucks, or Botox™. Every action intended to maximize their enjoyment or to put off the inevitable mortality. There is this mad dash to do all of the things that they wanted to do or should have done with the previous years of their lives.

We all know what we are avoiding: the unknown. It is not knowing what is on the other side that scares the tar out of us. So we stock up on what we know, what we can tangibly appreciate and chase. Do we fear the end of time or the beginning of eternity? Meanwhile, God stands and waits for us to realize that He is truthful and His promises of a life ever after are more than hollow words:

Paul said it this way in Colossians:

Colossians 1:11-13 (NIV)

11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully
12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.
13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,

It is the dominion of darkness that we grasp with our purposeful little fingers: holding on and wishing for it to never stop. Yet here is God with a life free from the clutches of this world, freely giving it to all who will receive it.

A measure of faith is all that is required: both faith in God’s promises, and in knowing that God is. There is no need of more. The problem is that it is a big step. Are you ready to take that leap? Barring Jesus’ return, the end of our days on earth is inevitable, but it not the closing curtain. It is merely the beginning of a glorious transformed life. And for the record, school was never near as horrible as I imagined it.

God Bless
Doug

Collections

The staple items of most boys growing up in the Midwest suburbs were comic books and trading cards. I was no exception. My room was full of both. From my Daredevil comics to the rookie card of Archie Griffon, my collections were vast and growing. My friends and I made rules for trading: some of them were practical, while others were quite odd. Marvel comics were top, so to trade a Spider Man (Marvel) for a DC comic like Superman, would require a 2 for 1 trade.

Similar rules applied for trading cards. Topps cards were, well, tops. Sometimes Wonder Bread™ would put cards in their packages. These cards were kind of cool because they were 3-D, this was the only card that was a 1 for 1 trade for Topps. Hostess also used to put cards in their cartons of Ho Ho’s™ and Ding Dong’s™: they were cards that we wouldn't bother trading, because they had to be hand-cut. All-pro and rookie cards were all the highest rated cards. Then there were the wildcards: Wacky Packs™ were really popular with us, and then there were the Battlestar Galactica and the Six Million Dollar Man trading cards. All of these added a wrinkle to our trading experience.

We had block buster trades which may include multiple comics, some trading cards and an intangible like marbles or a balsa-wood glider. We even had occasions when a trade was misrepresented and we could bring the trade before our friends and let them decide if someone was cheated in the transaction. At the end of the day, our collections flourished, and that lame cardboard that they called bubblegum in the card packs was eventually chewed by all. It was our own small economic system, and we all loved it as much as the collections themselves.

There was something really pleasing about building your collections. There were a couple of our friends whose parents would just buy entire cartons of trading cards. These children had no need of trading because they already had all the cards available. They really missed out on something special. That’s not to say we were a little jealous of them: after all, it was work to inventory your cards and figure out what you were missing. It took time to figure out a trade worthy of obtaining a Mean Joe Green, or Pete Rose, still, the possibilities were dazzling and the opportunities were there and available.

Collections are a part of life and how we handle them can have dramatic effect on our quality of life. What do we collect in our heart? What do we treasure? What heirlooms do we clutch with all that we are? What do we trade off to attain what we perceive to be greater things? What value do we put on family? What do we put off to obtain ‘stuff’? What do we deem off-limits and protect with all our very life?

Solomon understood this. A man who had it all as far as worldly collections goes: money, castles, temples, horses, and let’s not forget the women. Looking reflectively, here is what the great collector says:

Ecclesiastes 1:2-4 (NIV)

2 "Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless."
3 What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun?
4 Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.

Wow! Now there is satisfaction! At the end of the long journey, Solomon looked back, and saw that these pursuits were ‘meaningless’. What about collecting worldly wisdom? Surely he would speak well of such endeavors:

Ecclesiastes 1:13-14 (NIV)

13 I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid on men! 14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

Strike 2! He goes on to show that the pursuit of riches, wealth, wisdom, advancement, and pleasure are all meaningless. At the twilight of his life, the folly of these endeavors was crystal clear to him. Interestingly enough, in the middle of this commentary, he writes the verses made famous by The Birds, summarized as everything in its due season (turn turn turn).

In chapter six, it all comes to a head. Solomon asks the defining question:

Ecclesiastes 6:12 (NIV)

12 For who knows what is good for a man in life, during the few and meaningless days he passes through like a shadow? Who can tell him what will happen under the sun after he is gone?

There is a point to this gloom. Solomon, had to paint the picture for mankind to make the case for God. He intentionally left an important phrase out of his ‘meaningless’ mantra. Here it is: ‘compared to God's’. Chapter 8 makes it a little clearer:

Ecclesiastes 8:16,17 (NIV)

16 When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe man's labor on earth—his eyes not seeing sleep day or night- 17 then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all his efforts to search it out, man cannot discover its meaning. Even if a wise man claims he knows, he cannot really comprehend it.

Solomon saw God in his glory and realized that our lives that are so incredibly important to us, are like a grain of sand on the beach compared to Gods. Our pursuit should be after Him, and in doing so be fulfilled in Him. Maybe Jesus said it a little more eloquently:

Matthew 6: 19, 20 (NIV)

19 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

Reflectively, these questions can be overwhelming, yet understanding them helps us to figure out what our true priorities are. God looks at our lives and He knows our needs and wants. Every item that we hide in our heart or mind, He has already assessed and has lovingly made a plan to help us deal with or equip us to attain these items.

What are we collecting? In the grand scheme of things is it really important? Is one million Terry Bradshaw rookie trading cards worth one soul? Only we can answer these questions.

God Bless
Doug