February 13-B, 2023

Outer Banks Sunset 09/27/2008 Oil Paint Rendered — Nags Head, North Carolina
We do too much that doesn't matter.
We are awash
in entertaining pastimes
and hyped-up triviality.

Frivolous escapes drive us to distraction,
which, of course, is the point.

Diversion, distraction, denial
are the three members of the godhead,
the Holy Trinity of life in these times,
and their favorite forms of engagement:
Drugs/Sex/Alcohol/Money--
pursuing them,
thinking about them,
engaging in them
enable us to pass the time
until something better comes along
promising plenty of thrills, noise and action.

Life comes down to getting away
from what we don't like
in the endless search
for something worthwhile.

Wasteland? Did someone say "Wasteland"?
The Land of Wasted Time,
Lost Meaning,
Forgotten Purpose.

The Wasteland lies between 
the Garden of Eden
and the Garden of Gethsemane,
and is the eternal burden
of those who don't want either one.

Eden lacked pizzazz,
and Gethsemane is the end
of life as we want it to be.
Leaving us to wander through the Wasteland
waiting to die.

 Party? Did someone say "Party"?
"Laissez les bon temps rouler!"
On and on and on...No?

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Published by jimwdollar

I'm retired, and still finding my way--but now, I don't have to pretend that I know what I'm doing. I retired after 40.5 years as a minister in the Presbyterian Church USA, serving churches in Louisiana, Mississippi and North Carolina. I graduated from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, in Austin, Texas, and Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. My wife, Judy, and I have three daughters and five granddaughters within about twenty minutes from where we live--and are enjoying our retirement as much as we have ever enjoyed anything.

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