I sat down to write, but something wasn’t right.
Much of my writing life subsisted on the MacBook Pro that I happily carry almost everywhere with me. That said, I was spending less and less time at my desk with my trusty old iMac. The fruit of day-to-day life had begun to pile up. Elbow room was stolen by several of the volumes of Systematic Theology I had used and refused to replace on my bookshelf. My change bowl had filled with receipts. Bills, wedding invitations, notes and magazines stood in their own piles of long forgotten intention. I couldn’t write in this mess.
It was time to get my neat freak on.
I placed bookmarks in open books and magazines as I moved them to bookshelves. I didn’t remember what I wanted in them before, but I figured I’d save the pages in case I ever remembered. I cracked open the checkbook and began wading through receipts. Immediately, I lamented the amount of my income that had been devoted to Starbucks. Then came the note pile. Inspiration strikes at the least convenient times. I keep a stack of note cards and a pen in by backpack. I keep notes on my phone, I sometimes have to write them on my arm. Once they’ve all landed on some sort of paper, this is where they live.
Topping this pile is an old digital camera that I’ve kept in hopes of its eventual revival. Water got to it on one of my last trips and as a result, memories were trapped inside. I knew I’d never be able to use it again, but until I had a replacement, I clung to the piece of technology. It was no longer a camera, it was a silver paperweight with buttons.
★ ★ ★
“You’re more alive, more concerned, more sensitive, more reverent, more human, more passionate, more responsible.”
(2 Cor. 7:11- The Message- emphasis added)
Keeping it simple, Paul’s first letter to the church at Corinth pissed them off, as he explained some changes they all needed to make. The man found himself having to defend his leadership when he wrote the second epistle to the church that gave him more trouble than any other. Even from a distance, he had gone through a lot with people he clearly loved. At one point, we find him explaining something positive that had come about in their hard times. Virtue had clearly come out of the mix, but so did humanity.
God made humans exactly how he wanted us to be. We jacked it up and basically, ended up like my camera- not necessarily useless, but not functioning in a way we were intended to. So many people grow up, accustomed to this and don’t understand what they should be or how they should act. Fortunately, God never gives up on us and even if we end up sitting on a stack of papers for a while, He has the ability to fix us. To help us become more human, not less.
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There have been many times in my life when your dead camera was of more use than my sorry existence. Thank God He made me “more human” and less like an animal the world has come to believe we actually are. To understand the purpose of our lives is truly a blessing and relief. God is good, even when I’m sitting on that proverbial stack of papers. Nice job. I wish you would have taken a picture of your desk before you cleaned it up. Mine is an absolute disaster, I think I’ll take a picture of it and do a post inspired by you my friend!
Floyd, I love it. I think we’ve all been that useless at one point in time. I know when I was a drunken party-boy I was dead weight, sitting on the gifts that God had given me. I was also completely unaware of the redemption that would follow and story God would start to involve me in. He’s that amazing. As far as my mess? I can basically promise it’ll be back in a month. For some reason, things just don’t stay clean!
You should write a messy-desk post. It’s amazing what we find in the things we interact with daily when we stop to examine them.
I completely agree, I found your post so interesting and was dying to find out where you were going with it. The dead camera that you didn’t throw out I can so relate to! I will write one and give you a by-line if it doesn’t stink! If it does I won’t drag you in on it!
Dude. Shoot me the link. I’ll put it up here. No worries about dragging me in on anything. I don’t even think of it that way!!
I definitely have had times in my life where I was more like your dead camera than a human being full alive. Thankfully, God saved me (and continues to save me) from thought patterns and actions that leave me sitting dormant on the gifts and purposes He put in my life.
And as far as the messy desk – I can completely relate. Once it gets to a certain point, I HAVE to clean it up, or I can’t work!
Jason, I”m bad enough that I have to clean my room before I go to bed… most of the time. It’s RIDICULOUS. But God is good. He redeems us, fixes us, uses us, makes everything better!
First time visitor here. Floyd’s post is what got me here. I’m sure glad God never gave up on me.
Just wanted to let you know that from now on, whenever I’m about to go hulk on some clutter..I shall announce that “I’m getting my neat freak on.”
Tammy, I hope you enjoyed it! I feel like you absolutely must listen to 90’s hip hop or rap while you “get your neat freak on”. Really, it’s the only thing that’s appropriate at this point, right?
I did enjoy it!
Ha–Not a huge rap fan…but I can just hear it now: “I love it when you call me big MOPPA!”
Get it? Cleaning with a mop…mopping…mopper…moppa?
Throw your hands in the air if you’s a dust ball slaya?
I just did that.
Glad you enjoyed it.
LOL–perfect!
I’ve got to get my neat freak on too.
This post made me depressed thinking about the mess on the desk. But, then I heard you rap a line and I’m much better now.
AAAAHHH!!!
I love it. I absolutely love it. I wish I could rap. It would make my…. life? Maybe not. It’d be much more dramatic than making my day though….. My desk is already messy again. I’m kind of bummed about this…..
btw, “Oh the humanity!” is one of my go-to lines.. one of the few phases on my multiple choice of responses throughout the day. No, seriously.
[…] friend Floyd, over at Finding Flyod wrote a great response to my Oh, the Humanity! story. He did a wonderful job. Go check out a great writer and Jesus-follower’s blog and […]