For Me to Live is Maintenance
We spend our lives in maintenance. For starters, we depleted one third of our life maintaining our body by sleeping. That is only the beginning. We actually use much more of our life in the maintenance of our body. We bath our body. We comb our hair. We feed our body. We brush our teeth. We exercise (well, some do). On top of all of that, there are visits to doctors for a general check up, an ophthalmologist for eyes, a dentist for teeth, and, if the body develops any kind of a problem, a specialist. All this maintenance takes time, a lot of time.
Our lives must be maintained financially. So, we exhaust (an appropriate word) another third of our lives working. That does not include counting the time going to and from work, going to the bank, paying the bills, and balancing the checkbook, all of which eats up more of our lives.
Everything we own demands maintenance. The house must be cleaned and repaired. Even calling a repairman (woops, repair person; must maintain political correctness) takes time. They will not tell you exactly when they will be there, only that they will arrive in the morning or the afternoon. There went the day or at least half of it, because if you say morning, which they define as from nine to noon, they show up at 11:45! Then, there is the lawn. It must be mowed, raked, etc. (I solved this one; we live in a condo.)
We must maintain our car (cars) by putting gas in the tank, oil in the engine, water in the radiator, and air in the tires. We wash it, wax it, and watch it wear out no matter how much we try to take care of it. Oh yes, we take it to get repaired or to have parts, like tires, replaced. That is always a killer, a time killer. Hey, that’s my life, spent again in maintenance mode.
That is just the house and the car. Every possession takes time for maintenance. What possessions do you have that possess you? I have a desk. No, I have three desks, one at home, one at the church I pastor, and a third at another church where I am the chairman of the board and chief administrator until they get through … well, a transition. The paper on the top of a desk (not to mention the draws in the desk) takes maintenance. Just the mail … oh well, you know the drill.
The computer has to be defragmented. The silver has to be polished. The hair has to be cut and we haven’t even got to relationships, the most important part of our lives that also demands, you guessed it, maintenance.
The simple reality is that it is all about maintenance. Maintenance demands time, but the consequences of not maintaining is worse (no oil equals a blown engine). So, contrary to popular opinion, sweat the small stuff, so that you don’t suffer the larger consequences. Besides, according to Jesus, if you master the small stuff, there are bigger consequences that are all good (Lk. 16:10; then see Mt. 25:21). So, sweat the small stuff.
© G. Michael Cocoris, 12/30/2000
Our lives must be maintained financially. So, we exhaust (an appropriate word) another third of our lives working. That does not include counting the time going to and from work, going to the bank, paying the bills, and balancing the checkbook, all of which eats up more of our lives.
Everything we own demands maintenance. The house must be cleaned and repaired. Even calling a repairman (woops, repair person; must maintain political correctness) takes time. They will not tell you exactly when they will be there, only that they will arrive in the morning or the afternoon. There went the day or at least half of it, because if you say morning, which they define as from nine to noon, they show up at 11:45! Then, there is the lawn. It must be mowed, raked, etc. (I solved this one; we live in a condo.)
We must maintain our car (cars) by putting gas in the tank, oil in the engine, water in the radiator, and air in the tires. We wash it, wax it, and watch it wear out no matter how much we try to take care of it. Oh yes, we take it to get repaired or to have parts, like tires, replaced. That is always a killer, a time killer. Hey, that’s my life, spent again in maintenance mode.
That is just the house and the car. Every possession takes time for maintenance. What possessions do you have that possess you? I have a desk. No, I have three desks, one at home, one at the church I pastor, and a third at another church where I am the chairman of the board and chief administrator until they get through … well, a transition. The paper on the top of a desk (not to mention the draws in the desk) takes maintenance. Just the mail … oh well, you know the drill.
The computer has to be defragmented. The silver has to be polished. The hair has to be cut and we haven’t even got to relationships, the most important part of our lives that also demands, you guessed it, maintenance.
The simple reality is that it is all about maintenance. Maintenance demands time, but the consequences of not maintaining is worse (no oil equals a blown engine). So, contrary to popular opinion, sweat the small stuff, so that you don’t suffer the larger consequences. Besides, according to Jesus, if you master the small stuff, there are bigger consequences that are all good (Lk. 16:10; then see Mt. 25:21). So, sweat the small stuff.
© G. Michael Cocoris, 12/30/2000