Right about now we all need to do what we can to prevent our world from shrinking.

Do you remember when your mother would shrink you new blue jeans?

I remember going to the Levi store and putting down the outrageous amount of $13 for a pair of Levi 501’s – that was a lot of money for jeans! 

Some people could fit into their new jeans right off the rack, but I could never find a length that was right for me. I would have to take an inch or two off the length every time. 

It was tricky though because they didn’t come pre-shrunk. So if you hemmed them before you washed them, you ended up with floods … also known these days as the stylish length for young adults living in Toronto.

My mom was notorious for making my jeans into the 2020’s length back in the 1970’s.

So I wouldn’t hem my pants right away. I would wash them several times … and when I say “I” what I mean is I would allow my mother to wash my jeans a few times before they were hemmed.

Then I would do the hemming myself because I couldn’t trust my mother to keep my pants from showing my ankles to the world.

Just like we don’t want our clothing to shrink, we also need to make sure our world doesn’t shrink.

But these days it’s easy to let that happen. We have kept our bubbles small and closed and gradually, slowly we’ve gotten used to a smaller world. 

We’ve gone fewer places and done fewer things. Our circles of friendships are shrinking and we essentially are living in a smaller world. 

If we let this happen to ourselves, we will pay for it. We will become old before our time. 

I’ve watch seniors for years and this is the natural progression in life.

We start out small in life and then we start to grow. Everything about us expands – our bodies, contacts, influence, etc. But at some point, we stop getting larger … or maybe just our body size keeps expanding. 

At that point we’ve turned the corner and our lives begin to shrink. 

As seniors get older, their lives have a pattern of shrinking. Their days becomes filled with fewer activities. They travel less and less; they don’t venture out as far. The older they get, the smaller their world gets.

I’ve seen this as a pattern in most people. But it doesn’t really become all that noticeable until that senior reaches advanced ages. 

With what we are experiencing these days, I wonder if we will trigger a shrinking world pattern at younger and younger ages. 

It’s worth looking at your world right now and, if you’re not over eighty, maybe take some steps to keep your world from shrinking too quickly.

Here’s the thing: Your view of God or your relationship with God could be shrinking as well. Though our world might be shrinking, God is the same yesterday, today and forever. He is not shrinking. So as you consider what you can do to keep your world from closing in, consider expanding your understanding and your relationship with God. That’s one area of your life that never has to shrink. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What in your life have you allowed to shrink and what are you going to do about it? Leave your comments and questions below.

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