Sunday morning, December 21, 2014 at 08:27
Lord God of Israel, the one Creator and giver of life, I am thankful to you alone that I see this new Sabbath day arrive and I am truly grateful to you for another day of life which you have granted me. Again I thank you Lord.
Walking has become important to me, a daily obsession to try to stay well, and already I have been out for my usual early morning walk. This month thus far I have accumulated 44.3 miles of recorded walking. In truth, this record keeping is meaningless, but I do the walking and keep the mileage records for my sanity and occasional de facto peace of mind. Almost always I feel better while walking and for a time afterward, therefore walking has become a vital part of my mental well-being. On top of this, walking is good for heart health and, an integral part of my ongoing long term recovery from the heart attack.
Before I sat here to begin writing I was resting on the bed and thinking, mindlessly letting my thoughts drift and wander. Slowly realization came that I spend most of my life here at home in the house, and most of those hours are spent in this room upstairs. This said, I am the same as a prison inmate except that I am the one who by choice confines me in this room. I am by no means complaining but simply making an observation about my life and perhaps about life in general.
When I go for my walks around the neighbourhood I rarely see people walking outside (aside from dog-walkers) unless they are going to or from their cars, or walking to or from the bus. This said, few people seem to walk; most seem driven having just made that anxious dash from house to vehicles.
This age of instant communication has made us become all the more isolated as we withdraw further; spending more time in the shelter of our abodes and vehicles. Perhaps in desperation we feel a narcissistic need more than ever to retreat from the increasingly busy and crowded world around us, yet in spite of more time huddled in the believed safety of our refuges, we seem to suffer all the more from that loss of human contact that we increasingly dislike and avoid.
I do not subscribe to Facebook, Twitter or any of the like, but I do admit to having glanced at Kie's Facebook; Simply setting up a blog was a quantum leap forward. I can perceive logical explanations why people do not talk to each other or spend as much time together these days. Almost everyone communicates by deluging the cyber world with a flood of information about anything and everything concerning what they may or may not be thinking about on the spur of the moment; almost every single moment.
At times I feel like a lone turtle in a horse race wondering where everyone went. Reality is that I have been left far behind at the starting line while everyone has sped off and far ahead. Again, I honestly do not know what to think and at times wonder if I should capitulate and join in.
But why?
I have not been able to convince myself with a valid reason aside from that usual, meaningless standard, "Everyone is doing it!"
Signs of the times and blazes for life's trails:
"But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase."
(Daniel 12:4)
"Because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold."
(Matthew 24:12)
"But go your way till the end; and you shall rest, and stand in your allotted place at the end of days."
(Daniel 12:13
God knows what and when, but aside from the glimpses given, those are not for us to know. We may wonder all we want, and God has given us the minds to understand and freedom to wonder, but God has not given us the minds to know when.
The Oddblock Station Agent
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