Siggy’s Blurbs

Every day is a privilege and why do I act otherwise.  I act as if my days are endless and as King Solomon says, ‘Life is but a vapor.’

I waste (our) days sometimes.  I act as if my time on this earth is infinite.  I know.  I have been there repeatedly.  I have to remind myself each day is a gift.  I know I am a master of rationalization.  I act as if I will be forever here.

It is marvelous what a shower and putting on clean clothes (and dressing nicely) does to your attitude.  I am saying today matters.  I will respect my time here.  It is truly a gift.

It is so easy for me to fall down in the dumps to use a cliche.  I really have to work at it and sometimes from the outside first and my attitude towards the day will change.

Every day I am on this earth is a privilege and I have to treat it as such.  I really matter to the one above so I have to give him the respect due and treat each day that the Lord brings me as a gift.  It really is.

Tags: Bible, clean clothes, down in the dumps, each day is a gift, endless days, give respect to God, God, infinite, King Solomon, Life is but a vapor, Old Testament, take a shower, the Lord, time, time on earth, today is a gift, today matters, waste time, your attitude
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I always thought there would be tomorrows but now I am not sure.  My visits with my doctor made me realize this so I decided to plan the trip to San Francisco I have wanted to do since the late sixties.

I do not know what my fascination with San Francisco is but I have wanted to go there for forty years.  I want to go in style:  I will take a “sleeper” on Amtrak with my wife from Chicago to San Francisco next spring.

“The California Zephyr” goes across the United States:  I have always loved trains and they are my favorite form of public transportation.  I have almost six months to plan out this trip in next April.

I do not want to put off this trip any longer.  Who knows what the time will bring?  ‘Time is indeed a vapor’ in the words of King Solomon fron the Old Testament.

Tags: Amtrak, Bible, California Zephyr, doctor, King Solomon, late sixties, Old Testament, public transportation, railroad sleeper car, San Francisco, thought there would be tomorrows, time, time is a vapor, trains, United States, who knows what time will bring
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Don’t let the sun go down on your wrath.  This advice from the bible is a good one.  Another way to interpret this line is don’t nurse hurts in your marriage.  Let them go.  Start each day afresh.

I am imperfect and so is my partner.  If you don’t forgive your partner at the end of the day for being imperfect (for hurting you), the wounds just fester.

Everyone sins (or should I say is imperfect or human).  You know in your heart you sin everyday why should you expect your other to be otherwise.

Forgiveness at the end of the day wipes your slate clean.  That is why it is healthy not to nurse hurts in your marriage.

We are all imperfect and whether or not you think your partner deserves it you have to forgive your partner at the end of the day.  It is the right thing to do.

I really believe marriage was put on this earth only for two reasons–to teach us how to forgive and love others and these lessons start off with our primary relationships–our mates.

Tags: advice, Bible, don't let sun go down on your wrath, don't nurse hurts, end of the day, everyone sins, forgive, hurting, imperfect, learn to forgive, lessons, love others, my partner, our mate, primary relationships, right-thing-to-do, start each day afresh, we are human, wipe slate clean, wounds fester, your marriage
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I like all kinds of things so what?  I do not have to possess them.  According to the bible, ‘Thou shall not covet,” is one of the ten commandments.

There is a reason for that.  There is no end to liking or should I say wanting or desiring something (or somebody).  There is no end to wanting more material things.

Observing this commandment puts a halt to desiring more things.  You make up your mind to be happy with what you got.

Money by itself is not an evil but avarice is.  Being aware coveting is a sin produces peace of mind.  You can be happy with what you have.

Less is more.  And there is no end to wanting more.  The commandment not to covet was designed not to deprive but acknowledge human nature and the danger of money and material wealth.

The more you have the more you want.  There can be an end to this by simply being satisfied with what you have.  Then you can rest.

Tags: avarice, be happy with what you have, be satisfied with what you have, Bible, danger of money and wealth, desiring things, God, less is more, money not evil, no end to wanting more, peace of mind, possessions, sin, ten commandments, things, thou shall not covet, you can rest
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‘Life is but a vapor.’  King Solomon’s words in the bible.  If that is true and it is so what’s the point?  Your life will be over before you know it.

He tempers those words in the Old Testament with the statement and I am paraphrasing:  It is a gift to enjoy our life.

The Greek has several words for the word “time” and right now they escape me.  Nevertheless, one is means the chronological passage of time and another means the significance of that point in time.

It is true, time seems, in retrospect, to flee you but not all points have similar value to you.  It is the points in time that have significance to us so don’t despair over the passing in time.

Cherish the moments you have been given for there is no more precious gift you can be given to you than today.  We all have so much and none of us knows exactly how much.  And that makes our time on earth here that much more valuable.  We never know when it is going to run out.

Tags: Bible, cherish the moments, don't despair, Greek, King Solomon, life is a gift, Life is but a vapor, Old Testament, passing time, precious gift, time, time flees, time is valuable, time runs out, today is a gift, what's the point?
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All there is, is today.  It is so easy to be distracted.  Life is full of distractions.  When your life is ebbing away, you wish there was more.  There is only today.

Sometimes the days seem endless and that is only an illusion.  Make the best of every dawn that you face.  And when the dusk appears, rest peacefully when you have made the most of the preceding day.

That is why there has to be empty spaces in every day.  Somehow you have to stop your frenetic activity and look at your past, examine the future and live fully in the present.

There is only one go of it.  Do not regret you have wasted, squandered the most valuable possession you have–your time.

So slow down periodically, welcome the empty spaces.  It is an opportunity to examine your life and truly do what matters the most.  It is too easy to imagine there will always be another day.  ‘Life is but a vapor’ in the words of King Solomon who had it all.  So think about it.

Tags: Bible, days seem endless, do what matters most, empty spaces, examine the future, frenetic activity, had it all, illusion, King Solomon, life ebbing away, life full of distractions, Life is but a vapor, live in the present, look at your past, make the best of each dawn, rest peacefully at dusk, slow down, squander time, time most valuable possession, today is all there is, waste time, wish there was more
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Why do we care so much about things?!  You can not take your material possessions with you when your time comes.  It says in the bible ‘from dust you come and to dust you shall return’.

I am as guilty as anyone of this.  My music, my writings and journals and books are far too important to me.  Yet when my appointed hour comes, I can no longer hang on to any of these things.

Why do we act as if we can take our possessions with us when we die?  We try up till the last moment to retain some control of our most valuable possessions.  We make wills.

The fact still remains we can’t take them with us.  Wouldn’t it make more sense to invest in the things that really have more lasting effects?  Wouldn’t it make more sense to invest time while you are on earth in relationships–your immediate family, your friends, your kids?

Once you are gone all people have are their memories of you, the love and care you have demonstrated toward them.  You can have far reaching effects if you have invested time and love in others while you were on this earth.  People you have loved have memories of you long after you are gone.

Far too many people do not invest time in others.  They spend their whole life in accumulating things.  No one remembers how hard you worked in your lifetime.  They remember the love you have demonstrated toward them.  So before it is too late, do something about it.  Examine your priorities.  You have one life.

Tags: accumulating things, appointed hour, Bible, books, can't take it with you, care, dust-to-dust, examine your priorities, family, friends, invest in relationships, journals, kids, lifetime, long after you are gone, love, love is remembered, make will, material possessions, memories, music, on this earth, writing, you have one life
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Funerals are for the living. I am going to my Aunt Gerda’s funeral tomorrow.  I have known this aunt since I was this little.  My two sisters and my nephew and niece will be there.

My aunt lived until the ripe old age of 92.  No one lives forever yet others act as though death is an abomination and something terrible.  It says clearly in the bible that from dust we come and to dust we shall return.

Funerals are really for the living.

It gives others, especially those people who were invested in that person’s life, a chance to process their grieving openly in a group setting.

Persons who died do not need the funeral except for the obvious reasons.  It is others–the living-who need the funeral.  So I will think about these things as I go to the funeral.

I grew up with my aunt and she was my favorite aunt.  Her death is still too fresh.  It is hard to fathom my loss.  That will take time.  Attending her funeral will start this process of grieving.

Tags: aunt, Bible, death, dust-to-dust, family, funeral, funerals are for the living, grief, grieving, loss, nephew, niece, sister
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Again and again you have to return to your center.  Your center is what drives you–down deep inside– your mission statement.  Your center is not something you can keep forever.

You have to return to it over and over.  It is so easy to become “lost”.  There are so many things that can distract you– divert your attention.

In order to return to your center one has to be quiet.  ‘Be still and know I am God’, Proverbs in the bible says.

The only way you can find your true center is to stop–be quiet long enough to prayerfully, thoughtfully determine what truly matters in your life.

In fact that is what the Sabbath was designed for–to stop your routine– to be quiet to get off your treadmill and reevaluate your life to make sure what you  do truly fulfills your mission.

This whole discussion, of course, assumes you have found your center–your driving force.  Finding your center is really another discussion.

The point is is you continually have to stop periodically to find your center again.  It is so easy to get off track.  Being still gives you the opportunity to get back on track again.  And it has to be done over and over.

Tags: Be still and know I am God, Bible, center, driving force, God, mission statement, on track, prayer, Proverbs, reevaluate, routine, Sabbath, treadmill
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There is only now.  If you are stuck in the past or the future you never get to the now.  To truly experience what is going on you need to be in the present.

As I watch my four dogs it is readily evident they know no other reality than now– the present.  If they are hungry or happy, you know it instantly.

The now is all that matters.  Yes, you can linger in the past or look into the future but if you stay in either realm you are not experiencing life to the fullest.

Being in the present is always being aware of your surroundings, your current feelings a constellation always fluid.  There are so many universes occurring simultaneously and to become aware of some of them is to be focused on the present.

There is beauty (and horror) everywhere.  In Ecclesiastes, a book in the Old Testament, it says in one passage that a gift given to us is to enjoy the daily pleasures of life –a paraphrase but nevertheless if you are not aware of life in the present you are missing out your enjoyment of life–the now.

Somehow you have to banish the past and do not linger in the moments to come and simply open up yourself to the present.  The world is yours to enjoy.

Tags: Bible, dogs, Ecclesiastes, enjoy daily pleasures, experience life, future, happy, hungry, Old Testament, only now, past, present, so many universes
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Sometimes in the throes of depression all you can do is the next thing.  So that is what you focus on–the next thing that needs to be done in your life.  And sometimes when you do that–keep going to the next pressing task your depression will eventually lift.

Depression can be very selfish (and my intent is certainly not to make people who are in the midst of depression to feel guilty).  Nevertheless depression can numb you, prevent you from seeing very clearly and all you can do is to look at your life and deal with the next thing that has priority.  Then when you do the next thing another next thing shows up in your life.

Sometimes you are depressed because you are doing so little and doing the next thing will help eventually lift your depression.  Forcing yourself to physically move is a good thing whether or not you feel like it.

In the beginning it takes extra energy to get going.  Continually doing the next thing may get you going.  In the beginning it will take a bit of faith for you will not feel like moving.  Depression can be a deceiver.

If everyday you keep doing the next thing, before you know you will be more in control of your life and there will be less “loose ends”.  The advice from the bible is very wise, ‘Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.’

Tags: Bible, control, depression, do not worry about tomorrow, do the next thing, extra energy to get going, faith, loose ends, numb, physically move, priority, trouble
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Each person has a mission (or calling).  And when we think we are finished, we are not.  Someone else (in some distant future) will pick up the threads of our life.

That is how it always was:  You take on someone else’s mission and at some point someone, somewhere will continue your unfinished business.

All one is asked is to do His will.  It should not be your concern even if you think you have completed the job.  Someone may come along and take your life’s work in a different direction.

All you are asked is to fulfill your own mission.  In the Old Testament it says, “God has set eternity in our hearts.” (the words of the Preacher in Ecclesiastes).  We never can see the complete picture.

Each person only sees his/her part and sometimes all we can do is to take the next step.  And that is all we are asked to do:  to take your next step.  And that takes faith in the unknown.

Tags: Bible, Ecclesiastes, eternity, faith, God, His will, life's work, Old Testament, Preacher, take the next step, unfinished business, your calling, your mission
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