Dr. James L. Snyder
I just celebrated another birthday. I never imagined I would get this old, but here I am, old and still breathing.
Reflecting on my birthday celebration, I looked back on my life and realized I’ve been so busy, I’ve not had much chance to think. I know most people believe thinking is an essential part of life. I guess it is, but it has never been an essential part of my life.
Instead of thinking, I have just responded to life issues spontaneously. I’m a rather spontaneous type of person, just ask The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage. Life gets so busy for me that I cannot take a day off to have a thought.
In high school, I wasn’t a very good thinker. I cannot remember one test I passed with an A, even though I studied for those tests. While I was taking them, I couldn’t turn on my Thinking Machine.
The fact that I graduated from high school is as close to a miracle as I’ve ever seen. And the truth is, I didn’t do so by thinking at all.
I’m sure back then I had some kind of a thought, but I just can’t remember any now.
It wasn’t until I met The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage that I began to understand what thinking was all about. If I’ve ever known anybody to think, it certainly was her. She could think about everything.
There are times when together she would look at me and say, “So, what are you thinking?”
When she first asked me that, I didn’t quite understand what the question was; therefore, I did not know how to respond. I eventually figured it out and would respond by saying, “I was just thinking about how nice you look today.”
That always got a giggle from her and saved me from trying to figure out what I was really thinking.
I suppose most people would believe that thinking is a major part of their lives. I’m not sure why, because it has never been a major part of my life. Once I got out of high school, thinking was never part of my agenda.
Life has its ups and downs, and looking back, I’m not sure which were up and which were down. The only thing important is that I survived, and here I am today, no thought about it.
I got into a little bit of trouble the other day. We were sitting in the living room, and The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage said, “You know, I’ve been thinking…”
Being the advanced knucklehead that I am, I responded before she could finish her sentence by saying, “… with what?”
I don’t have to explain that I was in trouble. That’s just the way my life tumbles down the cowboy trail. Believe me, I try not to respond like that anymore. At least I try.
Now that I’m retired, I do not have to think. Thinking is just a waste of time because I know what I want to do every day. My pleasure is not based on my ability to think through something. I have discovered that thinking causes a great deal of trouble and pain. So, I leave the thinking to those who aren’t too bright.
Years ago, I was informed that I need to think about my retirement. What’s there to think? It comes automatically whether you keep track of your age or not. Just let life flow as God intended it to.
I have some family members, who shall remain anonymous, who spend a lot of time thinking. As I watched them over the years, I noticed that their thinking has not produced anything worth thinking about. But still, they think, and think, and think until they are completely worn out.
Maybe that’s why I’m not “wore out.” I just live every day as it should be lived.
Someone once asked me, “If you could change anything in your past what would it be?”
That’s a rather silly question if you ask me. To do that, I would have to spend quality time thinking which I don’t have the time to do these days. I don’t want to change yesterday; I just want to live today.
Of course, if I could change anything in the past, it might be the year of my birth. I’ve never forgiven my parents for the year I was born. They could’ve waited another 20 years, but they didn’t. I guess they weren’t thinking.
I suppose if I were to give it any thought, and I’m not going to, I could make a list of all the things I would change. But what good would that do? I don’t want to change my past; I just want to live for today.
I remembered what the Apostle Paul said along this line.
“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things” (Philippians 4:8).
Thinking is good, but only if thinking on the right things. That is the challenge set before me. If I think on the wrong things it will effect my life as Christian. The world would have me think on the wrong things which in effect, pulls me away from God.
Dr. James L. Snyder lives in Ocala, FL with the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage. Telephone 1-352-216-3025, e-mail jamessnyder51@gmail.com, website www.jamessnyderministries.com.
