Regardless of their source, interruptions are vital to our life as humans. Jarring course corrections always deliver upon new and penetrating personal learnings. Most requiring new levels of patience and perseverance, thus the value of such unexpected, then later welcomed life chasms.
These last few months have been quite strenuous, the latest stress coming from a source never experienced, at least not to this depth.
Maybe it is my age, with a life always lived on overload, though for over a decade, finding great relief by way of a codependence upon a small grandpup.
You heard that right!
However, in January, our Coach was unexpectedly diagnosed with Lymphoma. His 8 week demise and then the loud silence of his absence has been quite traumatic.
If you have never experienced a near human relationship with a dog, you like my former self, may be now wondering of my sanity. Just keep reading.
Now, throw in a new pup, another indicator of personal weakness, as I had forgotten about the first few weeks of house training! I think you get my point.
Before all this, I had also set out upon another book writing adventure, my sixth. Writing has become therapeutic for me, a means of wrestling with the political and spiritual unknowns that lie ahead for my two grandchildren.
Capturing my daily thoughts a sort of strategic remedy, hopefully later these words a gift, read by them as adults navigating the uncertainties that lie ahead both politically and spiritually.
With our nation divided and the Institutional Church in denial, if not demise, my words hopefully then found of benefit, even providing some mooring for their souls. Though likely by then, another reformation moment will have occurred, reshaping what we know as "church."
The two kids are my current motivation, my writing, never seen as a means of income source, and trusting neither an evidence of some latent need for self identity. I think I have done well with my life.
I do however love to think out loud, especially given these last few years, with my somewhat radical shift in theology. I now seem to be recognizing some static spiritual stupor for all these years, convinced of my knowledge of this Being we call God, as represented in the Christ, who took on the flesh of a man named, Jesus.
Solid in my confidence of an epiphany some 50 years ago, as well as a relatively disciplined read of scripture, but far more open to the reality that this spiritual journey is very progressive, much moreso than my religious background could ever allow.
Given the context of my evangelical, Pentecostal upbringing, conflicting at times with my exposure to the sciences, also long marinating in an academic sauce created by of way two graduate degrees, my thought processes at 75 seem quite balanced. That may sound arrogant, if so I apologize, but one has to know the broad network of associates with whom I live, work and play!
In thinking through this post, you might note at least three distinct and often competing genres of thought: religion, science and leadership theory.
God, why did you do this to me, let alone, crafting a life experience that has now traversed five different sectors of service to include six years as a small town mayor?
Providence has its own plan and the occasional life interruption becomes necessary, lest we get too comfortable in our mess.
Then finding our way back home from personal mission drift becomes as important to an individual as it is in any corporation.
It's in these windows of chaos, whether something as drastic as the sudden loss of a job, a spouse, or trust me, as jarring as the loss of a dear pet can be, that we grapple to recover our bearings.
Throw in a disciplined attempt at daily blogging from which a paid editor is drawing content for the aforementioned book, one thought to be entitled, "Come Let Us Reason Together" and you may understand how packed my days have been of late.
Oh, I am also engaged in three commercial real estate projects as well as maintaining two personal residences in two different and distant towns.
Life is full and interruptions at times unwanted, but always beneficial.