Renewal

As we head into 2017, we do well to glance over our shoulders to see from where we have come. This was made much easier for me because of my son Chris' efforts to convert a bunch of my old slides into digital format. He did so with over a thousand images and has intentions of doing more in the coming year. If the old axiom, "A picture is worth a thousand words" is true, his efforts have provided me with over a million words worth of memories. Don't worry. I won't be using nearly that many words in this post even though the ease with which I can now look back over decades is worth at least that many.

A couple of the photos hiding in that pile were of my grandfather who died over fifty years ago. I posted one of them on facebook and was delighted at the "likes" and comments that were generated. I was reminded of how much we humans want to know about people who may have shaped our lives. The common element in our wanting to know about our ancestors is that although technology has changed, human feelings and recognizing the need to evaluate and make necessary changes has always been with us. Just as we anticipate a New Year in 2017, so did Granddad. He started doing so in the 1800's. I've promised myself to write more about him in some future posts assuming God grants me the time and inspiration to do so.

But in the here and now, you and I must continue with the understanding that the brokenness that is human requires a renewed commitment each year, indeed each day, to be more like Christ in how we live and treat one another. My prayer for you and any who might care is to appreciate that with which you have been blessed and to be generous in giving the first fruits of your efforts to God in keeping with his ordained order. As for Granddad, if Heaven is joyous, he is chopping with his double bit axe or mowing with a scythe without any arthritic pain.