my thoughts

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How To Get Your Email Inbox To Zero

I have an email problem like many people do. I have too many and my inbox just keeps getting bigger.

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I need to do something with my unruly inbox. I have hundreds of emails in it and it keeps growing.

I could give up and get a new email address, cancel my present one and start fresh. But that would cause all kinds of problems and it would just mean I would start accumulating email in a new inbox.

My real problem is not that I get too many emails in a day – I don’t think that’s anybody’s problem. We can always delete those little suckers in an instant.

I can usually tell by the subject line if I don’t need to read an email. I can then hit delete faster than the pictures and graphics can load on my screen.

Getting rid of my unwanted email is not a big deal. My real problem lies in two other areas:

First there is the issue of what to do with emails that I need to act on or follow up on later.

I stare at those messages, some with grammatical and spelling issues (I’m one to talk), and they dare me to put them in some folder or clip them to some app that I will forget about in a day.

I get uneasy touching them because I know if I move them out of my inbox I’ll forget to respond, or follow up, or remember the details. So I just keep them in my inbox; it’s safer that way. But it’s bulking up my mail program in the mean time.

My other problem area is in saying goodbye to my correspondence for good. When I’ve dealt with an email, or responded, and all the action is complete, I still think I might need to refer to it some day.

So I put it in the trash but I don’t empty the trash. I have over 14,000 emails in my trash!

And then, just in case I need to refer to an email I sent, I don’t make them disappear forever either. I have over 4,000 sent emails in that folder!

I might need some psychiatric help on this. Maybe I was never able to really detach myself from my mother or something.

Maybe deep inside I have an electronic addiction like those hoarders that collect things so that there are piles of junk four feet high throughout their house. Only with me, I have four feet high piles of email spread all over my mail program.

They say the first step to overcome your problem is to admit you have one. Okay, I admit it, I’m an electronic hoarder and I need help.

Here’s the thing: We all have a problem with sin. There is something about it (that sin that keeps enticing you) that we have a hard time resisting. We know we should get rid of it but we keep it around. We don’t seem to have the will to completely detach ourselves from it. Our first step is to recognize this problem we have with our sin. Then call on God for help.

I’ll continue this theme in my next blog.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you do to completely rid yourself of sin? I would love to hear from you. You can leave your comment below

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If A Placebo Can Change The Weather, I Want It!

This week I read an article on the placebo effect. You know, it’s when the doctor gives you a pill, you think it’s a miracle drug, but really it’s made up of nothing more than sugar.

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From what I read, it works for some people in an amazing way. Because they believe something to be true, it actually starts a chemical reaction in them that begins healing in their bodies.

I realize I’m over simplifying it but I really don’t care how it works. I’m just interested in it if it works. And if it works, we need to apply this to way more than just our health!

I wonder if we could apply this mind-over-matter to things that we don’t have control over in nature, like say, the weather.

My daughter believes she brings bad weather with her. She lived in Calgary for six years and they probably recorded the six worst winters on record. One year, she said they had snow or hail in every month of the year.

Now she’s moved back to Ontario, and I hate to tell her this, but Jonah got thrown overboard just for causing rough water for a bunch of sailers. What are we going to do with Karlie if, in fact, she’s responsible for this brutal winter weather that never seems to end?

I wonder if we could all try this placebo effect and start to get our minds to believe that we are having a warm, sunny winter here. You know, gang up on Karlie’s mindset of “I bring bad weather”.

I can’t imagine that Karlie’s the only one that is causing the extreme winter conditions we are experiencing this year. But I figure there has to be a lot of people who would be eager to apply their mind to something like this.

If we could start believing it’s warm outside, maybe we could bring back global warming to this part of the country. I would really appreciate it if the glacier in my front yard would start to recede a little right about now.

To train our minds for this we could scrap the free flu shot clinics … those scientists are so bad at predicting the strain of flu each year, they’re worse than weathermen! What we need instead is free psych clinics. If the government just paid all the sports psychologists and regular psychologists to put on free clinics, I really think we could get our minds moving in the right direction.

If this worked well, we might even be able to create a tropical winter experience right here in Ontario. Then I wouldn’t have to worry about planning a vacation to somewhere warm.

So, how about on the count of three – no, two – we all start thinking about palm trees, white sand, blue water, and sunny skies and see what happens . . .

Hey, I don’t think enough of you are doing it! – there’s still a blizzard outside my window. Or maybe my daughter’s attitude is really powerful. She was pretty strong-willed as a child.

Here’s the thing: God has created us with amazing minds that can do more than we even know. And He has created a world that has elements so powerful we have no control over them. When you think about it, there are so many mysteries around us, it only makes sense to look to God for wisdom, guidance, and help in everything.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How has having a positive attitude changed something for you?  Leave your comments below.

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How An Ice Storm Can Show Up Your Limitations

For the first time ever we canceled our church service, all because of an ice storm. I really hate giving in to the weather, but I just couldn’t get my car off our street.

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The day before, I drove to Toronto and back in the freezing rain, and though the trip took longer than normal, we made it … and my hands were not even so cramped that Lily had to pry them off the steering wheel.

But Sunday morning was a different game all together. Saturday I drove over 600 kilometres; Sunday morning I only made it down the driveway – about 25 yards.

I even took two stabs at getting out. With the first one, I couldn’t even get to the end of the driveway. But when I got out of the car to survey the situation, I realized I had a flat tire.

Suddenly a memory from the night before made sense to me. We were pretty tired when we got home from Toronto late Saturday night, but I remembered that as soon as I turned off the car in the garage I heard a hissing sound.

I wondered for a moment what that was from and when I opened the car door I could still hear it. But then Lily said something that got my attention away from the faint warning sound and I didn’t think to check into it further. We just emptied the car and headed for bed.

That hissing sound I heard when I got home was my car tire going flat. After 617 kilometres (383 miles), my tire went flat as soon as our trip was done. It didn’t happen along the way in the freezing rain, in the middle of nowhere. It happened as soon as we were safe in our garage at home. That’s pretty amazing … thanks, God.

So feeling really thankful, I pulled the car back into the garage and changed the tire. My second stab at getting out I thought I would make it for sure. But as easy as it was to get down the driveway, when I got onto the snowy, ice pellet covered ice rink underneath, all I did was spin my tires.

I had to pull the car back into the garage. And we started the process of informing our congregation that there wouldn’t be a service because the pastor couldn’t travel the 8 kilometres to the church.

It was brutal, especially when I had been through a worse ice storm 15 years earlier and still made it to the church, no problem. We had a service then, mind you there were only about 17 of us who showed up.

That time the whole city was hit. They had to call in the military, hydro trucks and personnel from other cities. People were without power for days, huge trees came down, and power lines had to be reconstructed. The city looked like a war zone and I still made it to church!

This time, I just felt like a wimp who got beat by the weather.

Here’s the thing: As independent and capable as we think we are, as sure as we are that nothing will keep us from doing what we want or need to do, we can’t do it all. Sometimes it’s something very small that stands in our way. Take it as God’s message that He wants you to depend on Him and not yourself. Know your limitations and humble yourself before God.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What little thing has kept you from doing something you thought nothing could stop you from doing? Leave your comment below.

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What’s With The Tire Conspiracy?

It’s pretty quiet in my house right now. It’s all calm and Christmassy. The Christmas lights are all on and the soft glow kind of makes the room all warm and peaceful. I know it’s not going to stay that way.

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Tomorrow we will be up at the crack of dawn, on our way to Toronto for the Silcock family Christmas. The weather is supposed to be freezing rain and I’m not looking forward to the drive.

I don’t normally mind driving in the snow but my tires are not giving me much traction these days. I think it’s a conspiracy of the tire companies. I remember the days of studded tires. They made your car sound like they had tap shoes on as they danced through the snow and ice.

Apparently, they were chewing up the roads so they outlawed them. Then, for the next 30 years or so, we just used all season radials. Note the words “all season” that mean, to me anyway, that these tires are good for driving on pavement in the summer and snow in the winter.

They seemed to work fine until a few years ago. Out of the blue, people started talking about winter tires again. Frankly, I didn’t know anyone who had winter tires since they took the little metal studs out of the “moto masters” back in the 70’s.

Now, for some reason (I think it’s the tire companies), there is a real push to get everyone to purchase winter tires. Notice I used the word “purchase” there. That’s four tires at $100 plus each!

Not a bad deal for the tire companies. They even made it a law in Quebec that you have to have winter tires on your vehicle there. The tire companies must have been rubbing their grubby little mitts together over that one.

My theory is they have changed the rubber compound in the all season tires so that they don’t work so well in cold weather. That’s why my car is slipping and sliding all over the place.

I kind of like it, mind you; it keeps driving fun. But if I didn’t drive a standard I would probably have had about five accidents by now. You touch the brakes and you lose control, so I keep my foot off the brake and just gear down.

It keeps you thinking, but it works well. However, there is this three hour trip to Toronto tomorrow. That’s a little bigger deal than just navigating the snowy streets of Kingston. There will be stretches where there’s no help close by.

In those three hours – even though we’re not near Calgary – the weather could change along the way and we could wind up in more trouble than we planned for.

And then there are the other drivers. That might be worse than the weather. I can understand weather, like rain and snow, it falls from the sky. But I rarely can understand some drivers out there. They have a weather pattern of their own.

Here’s the thing: We can get pretty comfortable with our ability to navigate through life. We learn to do things along the way and it all just adds to our confidence … in ourselves, that is. God wants us to depend on Him. He wants us to find our confidence in Him, not ourselves. So don’t take the God factor out of what you do. Put your confidence in Him and He will get you through.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you find uncertain in your life? Leave your comment below.

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How Real Change Happens From Within

I made a big change in my appearance the other day. I didn’t get a new suit or comb my hair differently … I just shaved my whole face.

It’s the first time I’ve done that in almost thirty years. Since 1984 I’ve had a moustache and for the last 15 years I’ve had a goatee. But on December 1st, I shaved it all off!

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I had to take a second and third look at myself in the mirror to make sure it was really me staring back. It was hard not to smile and repeat the words, “Oh boy” as in, “Oh boy, what have I done?!”. But I’m going to give it a little time to get used to it.

One thing I’m not getting used to is shaving. It’s not that there is more real estate to take care of now, we’re only talking about a face. But, I have scars on my face from hockey that have to be considered now.

I’ve had 5 stitches beside my right eye and 3 stitches on my right eyelid. Then I had 3 stitches on the left corner of my mouth from a fight with Neil Lumsden, who was just inducted into the CFL Football Hall of Fame. Besides those, I had 4 stitches under my bottom lip and 3 stitches on the left corner of my chin.

The last three scars come into play when I shave. I haven’t had to bother with them for so long, but now I have to navigate around my face like it’s a land mine to keep me from nicking myself with the razor.

Though my face doesn’t look like Gerry Cheevers’ goalie mask, I do have a few marks that ensure I stay attentive when I have a sharp instrument in hand near my melon.

It all changes how I look, and it’s taking some getting used to it. I might grow it all back, but I’m going to wait and give it some time to sink in.

I’m finding I have to keep telling myself that I look different but I’m the same guy.

… And others have weighed in on the change whether they know it or not. Some people have said nothing which means they probably don’t like it. I’ve had lots of people acknowledge that I’ve shaved, but no comment on what they think of it. That’s probably a bad sign too.

One person came out and just said he didn’t like it. My daughter saw a picture and said “Wow! He looks so different, yet the same.”  And my son said, “That’s going to take some serious getting used to.”

Both Lily and I aren’t sure what to think. I think I’m looking at my brother when I look in the mirror and I start to laugh. I’m not sure what I’ll do.

Here’s the thing: Shaving my face hasn’t changed who I am one bit. I’m still the same guy on the inside. But making a change on your inside will result in outward change.

A Christian is first changed on the inside and then that change is made visible in his or hers appearance through actions, attitudes and words. So when we look in the mirror, we should ask ourselves, “Is my outside appearance matching my inside appearance?”

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What outward change have you made that elicited lots of attention? Leave your comment below.

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My Brain Has A Mind of its Own

My last blog got me thinking more about how my brain works. I’m not professing to know much about the brain (like a neurosurgeon, psychiatrist or some other scientist who has studied the brain), but I do have one, and over time I’ve kind of noticed how mine works.

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What got me thinking about this was composing my last blog about how distracted I was writing my sermon (check out my blog, “So . . . I’m easily Distracted”).

I started thinking about how hard it was for me to focus on my work, or what I wanted or needed to be concentrating on.

It dawned on me that my brain wants to take the easiest path possible.

So whatever stimulates my brain, that’s where my brain wants to go. If I see something, my brain goes there. If I hear something, my brain is attracted to that. It works the same with smell and touch but not with as much tensity (for me, anyway).

I can be in the middle of a conversation with someone and then see something out of the corner of my eye. My attention is drawn to that thing, and I’ve lost my focus on what I was talking about.

I can be thinking or doing something, but if I hear music, immediately the lyrics to the song flood my mind and I start singing. For me, someone can just say a word and that will trigger a song in my head!

On good days, when I’m well-rested and determined, I can discipline my brain to stay on task for a while. But the longer I have to intently concentrate, the harder it is.

Over the years, I’ve learned to do a few things to help. I study in the mornings – the earlier the better for me. I focus better at that time because I’m less stimulated by other things, my mind is more alert, and there are less distractions.

Another thing I do is write while I think. For instance, when I pray I often write (type) what I am praying because then my eyes are drawn to the same thing that I’m thinking about and I stay focussed.

I’ve even used the “pomodoros” to set short, 25 minute focussed bursts to work, and then take a short break. I know most of you are looking up the word “pomodoro” to see if a tomato sauce has some time management qualities to it. Just google “pomodoro technique”; it’s named after a kitchen timer.

The bottom line for me is that I have a poorly disciplined brain. If my brain was a child I would discipline it, like have it sit in the corner for a time out. But my brain is over 50 years old; it’s been freewheeling for a long time!

I guess I’ve just gotten used to how it works and made some adjustments to coerce it to do what I want it to do. But still, it’s an unruly little fella.

Here’s the thing: Following Christ is not natural for us. What’s natural is to follow what feels good to us. Unfortunately, that will often cause us to go in the opposite direction that Christ would have us go. If we are going to follow Christ, we need to employ methods and discipline to coerce our nature to go in the direction Christ is leading.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you do to stay focussed? Leave your comment below.

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Vacation Pain

“Back to the salt mines.” One of my buddies used to say that after noon hockey. He didn’t actually work in a salt mine, but he did have to go back to work. I guess after playing shinny, the idea of work seemed unpleasant.

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If you are someone who works in a salt mine, I’m not saying your work is hard and undesirable; it’s just an expression.

So, if a guy feels that way after an hour or so of hockey, how is one supposed to feel going back to work after a month of vacation? It’s not like my church has a secret tunnel in the basement that leads to large rooms of white crystal rock that I have to break apart all day.

But I do have some apprehensions going back after vacation. In any line of work, there are things you look forward to and things you don’t, things you enjoy doing and things you don’t.

Your work can be 90% enjoyable, invigorating, motivating and a few other desirable “atings”, but it’s that smaller percentage that weighs you down and has you wishing the vacation isn’t coming to an end.

So, at the end of vacation, you develop a little schizophrenia: part of you can’t wait to get back and another part of you wants to put on the brakes and stay where you are.

What happens is you start to act differently. You don’t have the same relaxed, carefree attitude you had a few days earlier. You go to the beach, but you don’t chill at the beach; you begin to strategize.

The water becomes your goals that are so hard to take hold of, the sand is like time that slips through your fingers and the people lying on the beach become the steps to how you will get to the water before the sand runs out.

You try to savour your last days of vacation, but your wife looks at you while you stare off in the distance and says, “See, he’s already back at work.”

There is no way to get back to the “chilaxed” zone you were in only a matter of days before. A switch has been turned on and it doesn’t matter how hot the sun is and how good it feels to sit under your beach umbrella sipping a Dr. Pepper, digging your feet in the sand, as you read or catch a few winks. You are there, but not really there.

Instead, you are sitting in your office sorting the mail that piled up, trying to make headway on hundreds of emails, all while getting back into the rhythm of your work.

Then you wake up, take a sip of your pop, wipe the drool from the corner of your mouth, glance at the people walking along the beach, and get back to reading your book. It was all a dream, a big scary dream. You still have 3 days of vacation left to enjoy.

Here’s the thing: Like the burden of work that overcomes us at the end of vacation, the burdens of sin, shame or self doubt can weigh us down even after we’ve confessed them. But God wants to take those burdens from us. We have to figure out how we can off-load those burdens to Him and not take them back.

That’s life!

Paul

Question: What is the hardest thing to come back to after your vacation?  Leave your comment below.

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Just Blame the Weatherperson

This week the temperature has soared, and already people are complaining. We humans are pretty hard to please. At one time, I thought it was just the farmers who complained about the weather. But honestly, we all do it

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It’s either too hot or cold or rainy or snowy or a combination of them all. I think we could just blame the weatherman for all this, or should I say “meteorologist”? They are the ones that tell us it’s hotter than it really is and colder than it really is.

When I was a kid, 80 degrees was hot. It didn’t matter if you were in the shade or in the sun. It was hot and you knew it and everyone else did, too. Today, however, it’s worse than that: 80 degrees is 27 Celsius, but we are told that it really feels like 35 (95 Fahrenheit).

In the winter, they do the same thing. It might be -20C (-4F) but they add their little jab by saying that with the windchill, it feels like its -29.

And we buy right into this fake weather! We complain about how bad we have it when it’s hot and how unfair it is when it’s cold. These weather people are controlling our emotions and, most of the time, they aren’t even correct.

There was a time when the weatherman was a guy training to be the anchorman at the radio or TV station. All he would do is lick his finger, stick it outside and make a guess.

We accepted that. We knew the guy was guessing at the weather. It was forgivable. After all, the guy didn’t want to be doing the weather; he just had to put in his time before he could give us real news.

Now they go to school to learn weather patterns and cloud formations. They sound all fancy and technical when the give the weather and they are just as wrong as they ever were. Can we really blame that on global warming?

They have all their maps with bright colours and animation showing the clouds. … I still think the guy that would write backwards on a piece of glass had more talent.  At least it was entertaining.

Let’s not give in to their hype and drama. Let’s accept the weather for what it is.

I’m not complaining about the weather. Maybe it’s because I’m on vacation and can dip into the semi-frigid waters of Lake Huron any time I want. Or, maybe it’s because I can walk down to the strip any time of the day and enjoy a cone at DQ or Scoopers, or get a cup of raspberry gelato.

Sure, maybe I’d sing a different tune if I had to go to work everyday. But every time you start to whine about how hot it is, remember it could be a windy-cloudy-snowy-rainy day instead.

I don’t want to hear any more comments on Facebook or twitter that “Satan called and wants his weather back.” I like this 30-degree-feels-like-37-with-a-humidex-of-60, sunny hot weather. . .  I’m going to the beach. See ya!

Here’s the thing: We so quickly complain and criticize God when things are not perfect: when our prayer isn’t answered at the exact moment we’d like, when it’s not what we want, when we don’t get the justice we think we deserve, or when our circumstances seem more difficult that others’. Like the weather, enjoy, and rejoice in what you do have.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What are you quick to complain about when it’s not perfect? Leave your comment below.

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The Bugs are Really Bugging Me

It’s just the end of May and the bugs are really bug’n me! It’s probably not any worse than other seasons, but I’ve had a few more run-ins with them this year than in the past.

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Last week while biking, we stopped for a few minutes to catch our breath, but the mosquitos were so bad we had to keep moving. Fortunately, those little creatures don’t try to keep up with us while we are riding or it would be torture going over a log or around a sharp turn swatting at the little varmints.

This past week, my wife and I were driving in the country, noticing the beautiful scenery of trees and lakes at almost every bend in the road. At one point, we thought it was raining, but there were no clouds in the sky or rain drops on our window.

We then, realized it was a swarm of bugs that had made the sound of rain on the windshield when we plowed through their impromptu gathering in the middle of a highway. (They were probably deciding which holiday weekend campfire they were going to hit next!)

When we got to our destination, the front of the car, the backs of the side mirrors, and the front grill area were literally carpeted with dead bugs. I think the Lepage’s glue company should look into using a bug formula for their glue because these insects stuck on the car like crazy glue!

Then last night we were parking our car by the harbour in town. We found an empty spot but as we pulled in, we realized why no one was parking there. There was a swarm of bugs all around the car!

As the chivalrous guy that I am, I kindly backed the car up to let Lily out away from the swarm. Then I drove back into the spot AND the swarm of bugs and parked. Squinting and holding my breath, I fought my way through the cloud of black insects, only sustaining a mere flesh wound.

But these instances are minor compared to bug infestations of the past. I remember as a young teenager in Toronto going to the store and seeing the store owner with a broom, sweeping up thousands of dead June bugs all around the door of his store.

I remember walking through a playing field out west in the 80’s and thinking the grass had an odd brown colour to it, only to discover that with every step on that field a cloud of grasshoppers would fly up.

Bugs really know how to bug us, don’t they? I’m glad I have arms and hands to whack them and get them out of my face. I feel sorry for animals like horses and cows who have to stand there and take it because God didn’t make their tails long enough to reach their faces.

Here’s the thing: When we meet up with a swarm of bugs, our immediate reaction is to close our mouth and eyes. We don’t even have to think about it; we just do it. It’s an instinctive reaction and that should be how we are with prayer. When we come into a cloud of trouble, our first instinct should be to pray for the Holy Spirit’s guidance and help. It should be the first thing we do, and we shouldn’t have to even think about doing it.

That’s Life!

Paul

 

Question: What bugs you the most in life? Leave your comment below.

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Living in the Shadow of Riches

I find the contrast between wealth and poverty difficult to get my head around, especially when they’re found together.

I remember visiting a village in Laos, South East Asia in 1992 that took two hours to get to by boat. When you say, “middle of nowhere” it refers to that little dot on the map. The place had no running water, requiring the women to climb up a hillside to get it from a stream.

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The chief’s home was on stilts and the home’s only furniture was a chest and a few mats. There was a big old pot-bellied pig that lived below the thatch roofed hut.

What I found amazing was, at the time I was there, the chief was in Los Angeles, California visiting his son who was attending university. The thought of a man from that tiny primitive village being in the abundance of LA blew my mind. The contrast seemed to be too extreme.

Being in Atlantic City this week, I saw similar contrasts. But you could miss them all together if you stayed in one of the casinos along the boardwalk. When you stay in a casino resort, you never have to leave the confines of wealth, luxury and beauty.

For that matter, though you are at one of the best beaches in America, you never have to see the light of day – but you certainly can get carpal tunnel from pushing the buttons on the slot machines!

We stayed in a hotel about a 10 minute walk to the strip. On our walks to the world famous Atlantic City boardwalk, we saw some huge contrasts to what we found in the casinos. From the vantage point of our 10th floor balcony, we saw homes that could – and probably should – be torn down, in spitting distance from a casino that cost $2.4 billion to build.

It boggles my mind to see prosperity and dearth coexisting beside each other. How does one live in the shadow of lavishness and how does one ignore impoverishment? There are no simple answers to those questions.

It wouldn’t work to take money from the wealthy; they would still find a way to generate more. Giving money to the poor wouldn’t necessarily mean they would use it to change their situation for any length of time.

This is not something that only exists in Atlantic City. In any city we could name, on any continent on the globe, this same disparity can be found dwelling side by side.

No matter how huge the gulf is, there is something that is consistent: we settle in and get used to living side by side. Though we should seek to do something to change the disparity, instead we shrug and accept it as the way it is.

Here’s the thing: In this life we all live together side by side, those who are bound for heaven and those bound for hell. In heaven one day there will be no co-existing. Those who have placed their faith in Christ, regardless of their wealth or lack of it, will be in heaven, while those who have not will be in hell. Those bound for heaven shouldn’t accept the disparity now, but seek to bring others into faith in Christ.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What contrasts do you see in life that you have a hard time reconciling?  Leave your comment below.