Last night we had a going away party for some friends of ours who are moving up to Boston. There was a ton of good food. We had a lot of laughs and bunches of great conversation. And now we have a really good reason to visit that wonderful city.

The whole evening was a solid reminder of the reality that life is a very transient thing. For an increasing number of us here in America it is becoming normal to move around quite a bit. Gorgeous and I have been married a little over 8 years and we are on our fifth home and third state.

Yet some folks live in the same place their entire lives. Do you suppose folks who do ever lose site of how short life is? I know it would be tempting for me to believe that this life was a more permanent thing if I stayed in one place for a long time.

But the reality life is fleeting. The Bible says

Your life is like the morning fog–it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.

Not one of us knows how long we have here. I don’t see anywhere that it’s written we are promised to be on this world tomorrow. Keeping that in mind can help us make the most of today.

The other life lesson that was reinforced by our friends leaving was that we shouldn’t hold our possessions too dearly. They had to lighten the load considerably to make their move due to the tremendous disparity in housing costs between Savannah and Boston. They de-ballasted by giving away a ton of stuff. The chair I’m sitting in while I type this was one of their gifts.

We have the capacity to put way too much importance on our stuff. Voice in the Wilderness says you can learn a lot about folks and their stuff just by looking in the church parking lot. When you move around you have an incentive to lighten the load that isn’t there when you stay put for a long time.

Right before He told a story to illustrate how short life is Jesus pointed out that

Real life is not measured by how much we own.

It goes back to what I said about life a while back. The meat (the real substance) of life is the sum of our relationships. Everything else is just flavoring.

Enjoy!

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There are some mornings like today, when I’m heading down to Jacksonville for work, that I wake up and have Steppenwolf’s song Born to Be Wild bouncing around in my head. I guess it’s my brain’s way of waking up and getting ready to hit the highway.

I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror first thing after I woke up, which is a pretty scary thing, actually, hair going every which way and all. Gorgeous reminds me that any day I still have hair is one I should consider a good hair day.

But I also saw the old ratty t-shirt that I slept in. I’ve had it for over 20 years now. Gorgeous has tried to get rid of it, more than once I think. But I won’t let her even though it all stretched out, has more than a few holes, and the places where there are no holes are threadbare.

My grandmother gave it to me and it has this Far Side cartoon on it. Grandma was into Far Side when Gary Larson was drawing the cartoon. She gave me the coffee mug too. I still have it along with a few others. Good stuff.

Grandma’s a cool lady.

But it got me to thinking. Why are we often so attached to stuff?

I mean I won’t let my wife throw out a very worn out old t-shirt. I say its because my grandmother gave it to me. But I haven’t seen her in years. Why is it I haven’t prioritized her enough to make the trek to New York to see her more often?

Why do we have a tendency to value stuff more than people?

Talk about having messed up priorities! We have this natural bent to treasure our things and treat people around us like trash. Do I really love my t-shirt more than my Grandma?

Sheesh!

The Bible has a bunch to say to folks like me who may fixate on stuff. Paul said this:

I do want to point out, friends, that time is of the essence. There is no time to waste, so don’t complicate your lives unnecessarily. Keep it simple–in marriage, grief, joy, whatever. Even in ordinary things–your daily routines of shopping, and so on. Deal as sparingly as possible with the things the world thrusts on you. This world as you see it is on its way out.

Peter also points out that our stuff is temporary:

But when the Day of God’s Judgment does come, it will be unannounced, like a thief. The sky will collapse with a thunderous bang, everything disintegrating in a huge conflagration, earth and all its works exposed to the scrutiny of Judgment.

Don’t get too attached to your stuff. Life is too short and you’ll enjoy it more if you hold your stuff in an open hand.

Gotta hit the road.

Enjoy!

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Didn’t know it but I needed a good laugh.

I went poking around the Technorati top 100 blogs and I stumbled on a real prize.

Now before you get to the good stuff, we need to make sure you’ve all met Fat Boy & Low Rider. And they seem to be aiming better these days, by the way. Gorgeous (a.k.a. the Cat Whisperer) was right about that one. Thanks for the prayers.

Early on I also made a Case for Cats as more manly pets than dogs. Now I realize the whole thing is debatable, and I might even be a touch insecure about the stereotypical image often associated with male cat owners. But I’m secure enough to write about it here, which says something, doesn’t it?

Anyway I like our cats mostly because they chronically make me laugh. Which brings me back to tonight’s treat.

Stuff On My Cat is a hoot. Mario Garza created this blog in a flash of true brilliance. Cat lovers and cat haters should both love the humiliations these cats endure.

And if these cat’s don’t put a smile on your face, you’ve been dipped in pickle juice!

Now back to work! (At least for me…)

Enjoy!