My New Theme Song

My friend Amy put this video on my Facebook wall after I got my stair lift. Love it!

My church small group is reading the book Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives by Dr. Richard A. Swenson. We're still early on in the book but it's already hitting home. Swenson says, "We must have some room to breathe. We need freedom to think and permission to heal. Our relationships are being starved to death by velocity. No one has the time to listen, let alone love. Our children lay wounded on the ground, run over by our high-speed good intentions. Is God now pro-exhaustion? Doesn't He lead people beside the still waters anymore?"

We have little room left for margin. If you don't take time to create margin in your life, it may be created for you. Why not beat it to the punch line? I'm creating margin out of pure necessity.  For example, I have to sit down to dress myself now. I'm utterly amused by how long it takes to put on my right shoe. Today, just for the heck of it, sit down and slowly put on your shoes. Examine how your foot responds or doesn't respond and how all of the parts work to make that shoe get on your foot. Then, take a deep breath and be thankful.

Now, I hum this song from the movie Up as I slowly progress up and down my stairs. Carl doesn't seem particularly joyful about his situation but his pace is interesting contrasted to the very end of the video where he's shown in the middle of an ever-changing fast paced world that is losing its margin. Who is better off? What can we learn from this?