Eyes Wide Open

I think I finally got the last oak leaf out of the rectory pool, just in time for the catkins to begin falling. This is the double-ritual of central Texas when you have Live Oaks. You rake leaves in March and sweep up catkins in April. I’m always glad to get the last of the double-whammy picked up and composted. The water in the pool is not warm enough before they are gone. This chore tends to go hand-in-hand with the chores of Spring that announce that Summer is not far away.

If I’m not careful, however, these events go by without noticing them, I mean, really noticing them. When I stop and think about it, the Oak leaves all fell in the space of a week when normally it takes most of a month. The big Live Oaks at the seminary in Austin are about a week ahead of mine, due to reasons beyond my knowledge. The catkins seem furrier and more abundant this year than last. Are we in for another bumper crop of acorns this year? Are all these changes due to the two really cold spells we had this year, or some other reason? I do not know. But I bet my son Landon either knows or knows where to go to find out. He knows how to think about things like this.

It makes me think about taking a closer look at other things in my life, things like my marriage and the amount of time I spend doing what I do and my friendships and what I think of what is going on in the world. Our Lenten Program this year helps us to do that. Fireproof your Marriage takes that most important relationship in your whole life outside of your faith and strengthens it with the help of your faith. Fireproof Your Life focuses the truths of your faith on the different aspects of your life with the same intent. What is going on? Why? Is there something that you can expect from what is going on? Is there something that you wish to change?

Living with your eyes open like this is work. It asks questions you haven’t considered and requires thinking about things you’d rather treat on auto-pilot. Hopefully it is digging into areas that perhaps need attention and hasn’t had it lately. Hopefully these programs will help you know how to think about things like this.