Thursday, September 25, 2008

one word

Here is a thought that I more or less stole from Jonathan Foer's book Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (which is very good by the way).

Imagine that somewhere in the cosmos is a very large card catalogue. You know, like the old fashioned kind in a library. Imagine that there is a card for every person who has ever lived. There's a card with your name on it. In the very middle of this white card is a single word. It's the one word that best describes you. Who you are. What you stand for. What you care about most in life. Not a sentence. Not a phrase. One little word. That's all you get. And it's not what you want it to be, what you wish it would be, but instead it is an accurate reflection of reality at this point in time. An honest appraisal of you as a person.

I have to admit that I'm pretty sure mine is "money." I wish it wasn't. God is very slowly changing that, but right now it's still money. I worry and fret and obsess about money all the time. Am I going to have enough to retire? How am I going to send my kids to college? Am I ever going to sell my house? What if the furnace breaks? And on and on and on.

I have seen God provide for my family and I over and over again, amazing us with His goodness, and yet still I worry. I hope this changes. I really do.

So what's your word?

5 comments:

bethany (dreadlock girl) said...

one word? yeah, well...how about one good and one bad? just one? I can't.

I think you are being a little too hard on yourself man :)


maybe mine would be: just be

(yes I count that that is two words!)

brad said...

Sorry - that is two words.

Angel said...

Good question.....
perhaps mine would be "Change"
I seem to always want it, but then when it lurks around the corner, I am always afraid of it. I worry all the time about it...but then at the same time all I want is change all the time.....
Yes, I am complicated.

brad said...

Well, one thing is for sure - you've certainly had plenty of change in the last few years. [-=

Angie said...

I agree with Bethany, you are being to hard on yourself. It sounds like you are more stressing about security than money. Money is just the tool to security. I have no idea what my word is, to sum yourself up into one word is quite a challenge. Worth a ponder.