Mittie

One of the most delightful parishioners from my old pastoring days was Mittie, a diminutive little elderly woman who lived alone with her beagle, JJ. She ran a very successful tailoring business from her small, simple home less than a ten minute walk from the church.

To say Mittie was unique would be an understatement. One of her quirks was that she refused to watch any news or weather broadcasts, claiming that they were always either frightening or depressing or both, and that there wasn’t anything she could do about any of it anyway. She didn’t have a clue about crime statistics in our city or neighborhood, and only knew the weather was going to be bad when, well . . . when it was bad!

And she happened to be one of the most perennially happy people I’ve ever known.

I should point out that this was back in the 80s when the only news that was available in the first place was from one of three networks, and even then only in the early morning, at midday and in the evening, and the only way to get news to us was through the television or the radio. We weren’t bombarded 24-7-365 back then like we are today via multiple cable news outlets, talk radio, satellite radio, and the internet.

Unlike Mittie, if we aren’t careful we can let ourselves get completely consumed by the constant, negative news culture, start thinking that things are so much worse today than they’ve ever been, that evil is winning, that the world is coming to an end, and that politics is more partisan than at any time in history . . . none of which could be further from the truth. It just happens that technology has made it possible for us to instantly know literally every tragic happening on the planet, and even on the moon for that matter. (http://www.nbcnews.com/health/heart-health/deep-space-radiation-caused-heart-problems-apollo-astronauts-n618116)

I recently read an article by Sarah Skwire (https://fee.org/articles/gone-fishing/) and she reminds us that in the middle of some of the greatest upheavals in British history (England’s Second Civil War), retired ironmonger Izaak Walton walked away from London’s craven feuding and wrote a book about fishing, The Compleat Angler. It was an immediate hit, and it’s been printed and reprinted scores of times over the past 360 plus years, and is still in print to this very day. What could possibly make such a simple treatise of such a common activity so popular when so many more “important” things were happening in the English government?

It’s really not hard, is it? Like Mr. Walton and his readers, we need to get our minds around what truly is important, and it isn’t the never ending news cycle, the electoral process, or Washington DC. It’s your spouse, your kids, those adorable grandkids, your friends, your neighbors, and Washington isn’t going to do anything to make any of those lives better; but you can! 

If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it dozens of times; “I’m so afraid for my children’s and grandchildren’s future.” Well, I’m not, because I’ve personally invested (and am investing) my values, my time, and my energy into their present, and I am perfectly contented to leave their future to God and the loving guidance and example my wife and I have been. The Wise Man said it this way; “Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.” (Proverbs 22:6 NLT)

So turn off the technology, ignore the empty promises of power hungry politicians, kiss your spouse, hug your kids, spend lots of time with your grandkids, know your neighbors and keep a watchful eye on them without being nosey about it. Live right, tell your stories, and teach the lessons life has taught you.

Be intentional . . .  and let’s go a’fishing!