Have you ever noticed....?

Have you ever noticed that there are times when you throw something away that you have hung onto that you end up having a good use for it later.


First day of class in advanced preaching is notice that we will discuss how to evaluate sermons and to be gracious in doing so. Its a new prof that I know fairly well so I know he would have appreciated an example. I had an email that turned down a written sermon that sounded like it came from an irritated, overworked editor rather than a gracious, mentoring elder. But alas it is "gone" where ever deleted emails go.

When I worked for a living I had an email folder called CMB. "Cover My Butt". Through moves and title changes I kept certain emails that I feared I might need one day to explain bizarre decisions that you hope will never come to light. I still felt a slight twinge of anxiety when I deleted all those emails during my last days!!

Computers have not lightened the load, mentally I'm weighed down by words tossed at me. At least in a conversation there is the hint that things are about to get rough - there is nothing like opening a harsh email late at night - all you can do is stew about it.

What if I got the courage to delete emails as soon as they were read - put the info down on my day timer and let everything else disappear?! That sounds like a level of grace and trust I just don't have!!