School begins for our children next week! Can you believe that? Where has this summer gone? Sign number 7461 that I am becoming an old man is that time seems to fly by (sign number 7460 is the hair I have to keep plucking from my ears, why does hair grow where I don’t need it and not…). In May, I was dreaming about a peaceful summer. I even suspended some meetings for June and July to help slow it down further. And yet, I have felt three steps behind since Memorial Day.

Honestly, the pace of my life makes me anxious and I rarely feel at peace. There is a popular book out now with tips to declutter our house.  The author’s suggestion I gather is to throw out everything you haven’t used in the last month. Which is another way of saying, pare your life down to what is most important.

What if I did that with my calendar? What would I get rid of? Another episode of Fear the Walking Dead, maybe? Newsletter articles? Gardening? Honestly, it is hard for me to come up with a list. So many things bring me joy that fill my days-reading, running, golfing, eating long meals with Paige and so many other things seem important even though they are time consuming-spending hours on a fifteen minute sermon, serving as a leader at HEART Food Pantry, worship planning, colleague meetings. What to leave in and what to leave out?

Maybe, I am simply destined to finish this race of life out of breath. Maybe, another year of wisdom (I turn 52 this month) will bring me some clarity on this issue. Maybe, God will make the choices for me by slapping me upside the head. Maybe, I just need to find some more time to pray about it…some more.  Peace, Pastor Karl