Construction Season (7/21/2023)

I live in Wisconsin which is code for I need to learn how to avoid orange barrels, cones, and barricades because when it isn’t snowing, it is construction season. And we’re in the height of it right now. I don’t know how the local authorities know my destinations, but they have figured it out because no matter where I’m headed, there will be construction on my way. Sometimes it is so bad that when I get to where I’m headed, I can’t figure out how to enter because of barricades and lack of road. Improvements are necessary, you know, in civilization, in transportation, in industry, and in our own lives.

That’s part of the rationale behind Lent, a time many of us use to overhaul ourselves, our routines, our habits, our approaches. That’s part of the rationale behind New Year’s Resolutions, most of which we never keep, but we deserve some credit for identifying areas of ourselves and our lives that do need work. As I was trying to navigate a construction zone around the hospital where I was going for testing this past week, I wondered what humanity would be like if we earnestly spent more time “under construction.”

I don’t know about you, but I have a great deal I need to work on. Even a near sighted man on a galloping horse could identify several areas of me and my life in need of improvement. As I laid perfectly still yesterday for 30 minutes for an MRI while the technicians did something that surrounded me with pings and bangs and knocks in darkness, I had a lot of time and incentive to consider what about myself most cries out for improvement. I came up with an extensive list, and today I am going to take the next step and write action steps to tackle during my overhaul. Yep, it’s construction season at my house.

Change is something we are called to as we follow Christ. In church talk, it is called conversion. We are called to orient ourselves anew constantly to the LORD. We are called to turn and to return because as human being we have a way of getting distracted and of wandering from the true path. If we take our call to follow Christ seriously, we can’t relegate change only to the Lenten season. We must be open to it daily as the LORD calls us.

Let us commit to take time this week and on a regular basis thereafter to look closely at who we are, what we are filling our time with, what we need to change about ourselves to be better disciples, to become the daughters and sons of our Almighty Father. Is it to unplug and spend more time in prayer or just being present to others? Is it saying “Yes” more frequently when we see a real need in our midst? Is it reaching out to those we know are struggling on the journey and sincerely accompanying them on the Way? Is it forgiving another who has hurt us not once but often? Is it exercising moderation in our activities and breaking bad habits? Is it doing without something so as to be able to help others get what they need?

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.