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One- Minute Writer: Disappear

You may have noticed that I haven't posted much lately. I've been doing some extemporaneous (no notes) preaching. I've also had some other things going on as well in my life. I actually haven't been reading as much lately either and the absence of that is really starting to tug on me in some not-so-subtle ways. 

A friend of mine says, "Writers write." 

Truth. 

It can be very difficult, though, to jump back in because that first rusty post is like the first slow painful walk or run in the start of an exercise program. 

I thought I would go to the One-Minute Writer today for a prompt. Just writing for sixty seconds, or walking for 10 minutes, is a start. 

Today's prompt is a doozy: How would the world be different without you in it?

Here we go. 

I suppose the short answer is to look at this question from the point of view of if I hadn't been born. Thus, all other things being the same, my parents would have had three children. My sister would be an oldest child and the only girl. She would have also been the oldest grandchild on both sides of the family. I assume, via my theological knowledge of It's a Wonderful Life, [Time's up here] that there have been moments in my life that affected the outcomes of the lives of others, whether or not I know about them. 

What about if something happened to me? My children would not have me. My husband wouldn't. My friends, siblings, parents, community would be changed without my gifts. To be clear, it is not that my presence defines an of these people or situations, but my existence does give shape to many things around me. I have certainly struggled with darkness at times in my life. At this time, a relative bright time, I can see that my life is intrinsically entwined with many around me. A loss of one alters a community in a variety of ways, no matter how the loss occurs and especially when it is unexpected. 




Comments

rphinvt said…
"I can see that my life is intrinsically entwined with many around me. A loss of one alters a community in a variety of ways, no matter how the loss occurs and especially when it is unexpected." I just wanted to confirm that this was true for me when we moved from Vermont in mid-July. I had dozens of community members whom I barely knew come up to me with tears in their eyes saying how much they were going to miss me. I had thought I was pretty unconnected, but it turns out I was wrong. The lesson I learned is pretty much what you state in your blog: we are all connected, and the longer we stay in one place, the more connected we become.

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