Seeds and Harvest

“Every thought is a seed.  If you plant crab apples, don’t count on harvesting golden delicious.” – Bill Meyer

What kind of harvest will you reap this year?

The quote and question were the thought/challenge of the day on my January 12/13th FSGBank calendar where I am employed.   They both cut sharply to the heart of a truth in life.  The choices we make, beginning with a simple thought translate into action and outcomes with potentially powerful impact on others.   The power we as humans have been given to make conscious choices carries responsibility for our attitude and behavior in any given situation.  We don’t have to let circumstances crash our emotional wheelhouse.  I fail to recognize that fact far too often with negative consequences.   Life isn’t lived in a vacuum.

The charge each day is what kind of seeds am I planting and harvest am I reaping?  I would prefer it to be golden delicious than crab apple.

“Soon shall close my earthly mission, swift to pass my pilgrim days, hope shall change to glad fruition, faith to sight and prayer to praise.”*

*From “Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken” , by Henry F. Lyte

Manifesto for 2013

The beginning of a new year brings many of us to reflect on the year past and look forward with a certain degree of expectation, perhaps even trepidation to the year ahead.  It’s a good time to start something new, or in this case, pick up something that has been dormant for a long time and try it again, see how it goes for a while.  If you are like me, you exit the holidays more weary than rested, and maybe a little emotionally raw heading into the new year.  I like the fresh start, the clean slate, even if only symbolically (other than it is the end of the tax year).  I have been mulling over how to approach 2013 differently 2012, and these four manifestos came to mind:

Live intentionally – Being intentional means living with purpose, design and an end in mind, according to Webster’s dictionary.  I admit I often fall into the unwitting habit of getting lazy and coasting through time.

Rediscover daily purpose – Recognize that life has purpose even in the little things of daily life.  It’s important to have a vision for our grand purpose on this earth, but life is a daily business, and each moment has its own purpose.  I often forget that my words, facial expressions, attitudes and actions influence other people’s lives in either a positive or negative way.  There is no neutral.

Focus energy and effort on areas of life that can be influenced and changed – It is easy for me to get caught up in the things in life I can’t control, and waste time and energy worrying about it.   The wiser, more joyful and purposeful approach is to devote effort affecting positive change where there is power to do so.

Take time for personal renewal – This idea is a tough one for most of us in America, the land of constant “busyness”.  Time to rest and recharge our body, mind and spirit takes a back seat to activity and accomplishment.   Two gentleman I know here in Chattanooga have developed a ministry called the SoulCare Project to speak into that need.   Their website might provide some thoughtful insights. http://www.thesoulcareproject.org/

No clichéd resolutions or empty promises for 2013.   The circumstances in which we live portend great challenges for the new year.  All the more reason to strive to live intentionally with joyful purpose.