Thursday, October 14, 2010

To be or not to be one with a bucket list. That is the question?

Hello friends and neighbors and those just hitchhiking out on the world wide web (www). Welcome to another edition of if we ever find out who influenced this guy to write a blog they will be in trouble. But, how in the world are you anyway on this Thursday, October 14, 2010? The other day I was talking to a fellow who had previously been a CFO for a string of senior apartment homes but now had taken a job selling cars. I asked him what had ever possessed him to make that type of change. Basically, he had lost his job because of the downturn in the economy and he simply said it was something that was on his bucket list. I hear that a lot these days. I hear it in the halls where our local fellowship of believers meet. I hear people comparing notes about their bucket list. Okay, I knew it was about a book that was made into a movie but I had not fully realized how it somehow became a part of everyday dialogue. Didn't read the book. Didn't see the movie, but, yes, it has to do with developing a list of things you want to experience before you kick the bucket. Get it? The bucket list. You may have one. I don't. Yours might include jumping out of a perfectly good airplane or maybe climbing up on some famous peak somewhere. This doesn't mean I don't have things I've always wanted to do or unfulfilled dreams. I just don't have a list, therefore, I am somewhat at a disadvantage when other folks are comparing notes.

My escapist dream world has always been wrapped up in travel, time travel and world travel. I know people who say they rarely if ever dream. That would not be me! Since I was a kid I have anticipated the meaning behind the Everly Brothers' hit, "All I Have to Do is Dream". I've always worked pretty hard at things that I like or that I find interesting and I've taken dreaming very seriously during my sojourn here. At a very young age I would read a book and then I would go to sleep and visit the very place I had read about. Same for a TV program, movie, or even a thought or an idea. I've visited most of the known time periods from biblical days to current events. You would be surprised how many historical events that I have seen up close and personal. Many of my dreams tend to take me on train rides. I love trains. Perhaps it's because my dad was involved in the train industry prior to his untimely death. I sleep dreaming about how wonderful it is to sleep while traveling on a train. What's that you say? You are now beginning to understand just how weird I am? No thank you. I don't think lying on a couch will help me at this point and time. I can't remember if I have ever dreamed about losing my ability to dream but I can tell you that is a scary thought. I've read quite a bit about all that dreams supposedly tell us about ourselves and how they help us to work through real world problems. I think mine are mostly a playground for a mental condition that stays on overdrive but needs an outlet from time to time. Please don't send me some doctor's name because I still can be somewhat excited about where I might be traveling to as I prepare for bed time. I sure wouldn't want to fix this problem.

I actually have written a series of stories for children about a boy who has a Bible story read to him each evening before bed time, and then he in his dreams reenacts that story with himself as one of the characters. I may never do anything with these stories but I do have my grandson's approval concerning the one about David and Goliath as being the best story he had ever heard read. I'll take that recognition as a handful on purpose being more important to me than you might imagine. As for as a bucket list, I am not sure where I would start. I do know something about what should concern me the most about my time here on the planet. There's a somewhat obscure passage from the Old Testament Prophet Micah where he asks a very probing rhetorical question: "He has shown you, O man, what is good;  And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy,  And to walk humbly with your God?" (Chapter 6:8)  I don't know about you, but to me trying to deal with this challenge would more or less cause my bucket to overflow with convictions and concerns. I would hope that any of us who take the time to make a list would include things that contribute to our testimony as a child of the Living God. You may be someone who never dreams but you sleep well and God has given you the life you have. Because I am a devoted dreamer does not make me better than someone else because we are all different. But one thing we all have in common. That verse from Micah is one size fits all and that includes every mother's child. Amen. Have a great day and I'll either see you later or maybe you will show up somewhere along the way as I travel the globe.         .....More later.

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