01/29/2019 — A Walk in the Woods 2018-12 01 Panorama — The 22-acre Woods, Indian Land, South Carolina, December 31, 2018
Every living thing does its thing as well as it can within the time and place, terms and conditions, nature and circumstances of its life, as long as it lives, until it dies.
That is the deal.
It is our contract with life.
We all live to see what we can do– even now, even yet, even so– in the time left for living.
And– as far as human beings are concerned– our ability to do that, and to keep on doing it, depends entirely how we understand the “we” to be who does its thing in the time left for living.
Who is the “we” who lives to see who the “we” can be– even now, even yet, even so?
Our philosophy, theology, etiology, psychology of the “we” determines exclusively how well we do what we do in the time left for living.
Who is the “we” who can make meaning of anything– even life in the face of death?
That is the “we” we need to be clear about, and get to know.
Because there is no one here but “us,” and what “we” do– and do not– makes all the difference.
I'm retired, and still finding my way--but now, I don't have to pretend that I know what I'm doing.
I retired after 40.5 years as a minister in the Presbyterian Church USA, serving churches in Louisiana, Mississippi and North Carolina. I graduated from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, in Austin, Texas, and Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. My wife, Judy, and I have three daughters and five granddaughters within about twenty minutes from where we live--and are enjoying our retirement as much as we have ever enjoyed anything.
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