Livid or Living?

Please do not attempt to confirm this with Sue, but I don't get really really mad very often.  However, let me drop the other shoe.  This one really ticks me off.  I can't believe this actually happened to me.

All summer long I have been cranking out the miles on Ol' Blue.  She has been sooo good to me over the years.  Faithful, available, always willing to go!  I feel guilty every time I even think about that new Trek 520!

So Blue and I set a goal for the season.  We wanted to do 1000 miles together.  It started off slow but the miles kept adding up on my Cateye odometer.  We go to 500, then 600, and finally all the way to 985 last week.  It was time to go over the top!  I couldn't wait.  So I head out this morning to hit the 1000 mark.  I watched as my faithful Cateye clicked off the miles one decimal point at a time.  I was all set to take a picture when it logged 1000 so I could relish the moment.

995.18  998.25  finally 999.99.  One tenth of one mile and I would be home free!  I was all set to take my photo. Then it happened.  It clicked the last tenth.   Have you ever felt that lousy feeling that happens when your heart shifts from excitement to 'what in the world happened?'  My odometer made the move.  It went from 999.99 to the next logical number in my long anticipated sequence.  It went to 0.00!

Can you believe that?  Where is the glory?  What happened to the goal that was achieved?  How can I memorialize the moment in the trophy case of life?  How could my 1000 mile goal suddenly turn to the dry and dusty nothingness of 0.00?  Who would do a thing like that?  Was it some evil plot that was hatched at Cateye central?  Bummer!  Livid!

But wait a minute.  I don't have trophy case.  And all the miles have been really good.  On top of that, there are more miles on the horizion.  And what about that 'livid to living' dilemena.  Isn't that that way it is with many things in life?  When one sequence comes to an end another begins!

I remember the first time I read Joel Barker's work when I discovered the reality of paradigm thinking.  Barker said that when a paradigm shifts, everything goes back to zero.  Isn't that true!  When things change, everything related to that change is impacted.

I thought about our current situation at the church.  Last January we made a shift in our worship setting by adding an additional worship service and adjusting the times.  People began to change to accommodate the new paradigm. Some were comfortable, some went out of their way to adapt, others struggled, and some said 'sorry Charlie.'   Thankfully many many adapted without any friction at all!

But paradigm shifts often impact people in unexpected ways.  So worship decisions impact Christian Education.  And the traffic patterns impact hospitality.  And the whole thing calls for more leaders to step forward to keep it all going.  In the end...the things that could make us livid actually bring us to life.  I am thankful for life!

2000 here we come!