Let's move on to a topic totally unrelated to the last few nights.  One can only reflect on deep thoughts for so long without being overwhelmed.  I do advocate deep thinking but it also runs the risk of wearing you down.  There is a certain quality to baring your soul but balance is still important.  Just because you can work though the depths of spiritual life doesn't absolve you from being lighter on occasion.  Laughing can be as good for the soul as serious reflection. 

My youngest child never ceases to amaze me.  I miss having very young children even at my age.  But his presence seems to brighten the darkest of any day.  We celebrated Halloween for almost six weeks around the house.  Now do not go crazy on that remark.  Dad sets limits on what we do and what is avoided.  He knows the monsters or really ugly stuff is off limits.  But it is also true that we enjoy going to the Halloween store for several weeks prior to the big day.  Even the owners of this seasonal outlet know him by sight when he comes in now.  We look at all of the costumes even though he is limited to cartoon characters.  He will add to his toy collection with gadgets that light up or make sounds.  Our time is spent walking around just taking in all of the sights and sounds.  Dad does not get much out of it but it is enough that he does.  The holiday came and went this week.  His reaction was unique and memorable.

It was either Sunday or Monday night that he declared Halloween to be over.  It is time for him to focus on Thanksgiving and Christmas.  He would put up Christmas lights and decorations now if we allowed that.  What was amazing is he gathered up all of his Halloween stuff, put it back into boxes, then carried it all out to the garage closet.  He was simply done with it all.  Dad said he would help but he was not waiting for that.  It was time to put away all of the old stuff to get ready for the next celebration.  All that I could do was stand back to watch him in action.  He declared at the end of the process that Halloween was over.  It is time to move on to what comes next.  I wish more of us could be like that.

How many of us still hold on to the stuff of the past without ever moving on?  I fully realize that some of the past is not really meant to be discarded or forgotten.  However, we find people along with churches who never turned the calendar from some year gone by.  What happens is we recycle the years rather than being fresh for today.  Some will say they are looking forward though their gaze is behind them.  That which cannot be changed requires a divine way of moving along.  Confessed sin need not be a continuous presence in our life.  Failures of whatever size are no match for God's present tense grace.  Behaviors or attitudes that worked at one point may no longer be effective.  My son reminds me that sometimes the best thing to do is just cart up the past and put it away.  How else can we get ready for the new things God wishes to do?

Bro. Trey