Rabid Fun

John Cowart's Daily Journal: A befuddled ordinary Christian looks for spiritual realities in day to day living.


Friday, January 26, 2007

Packrat or Treasures Old & New

First, an update: I called Barbara last night and she says Mary survived Thursday’s brain surgery and appears to be doing well.

———

“Dad, do you have any old Egyptian-looking things; I need some things like that for a library display”?

“Well, I just happen to have a four-foot tall obelisk and a tee shirt with hieroglyphic text on it. I've got a First Century Egyptian oil lamp around here somewhere; I'll have to look in a box for that. How soon do you need this stuff"?

All the time people call me asking for odd things.

In the past couple of months different folks have asked to borrow:

An extension ladder, swimming pool shock, six hand puppets, chairs, folding table, a copy of Dark Night Of The Soul, charcoal grill, car jack, shirt with a pumpkin on the chest, a shovel, an ax, a shrimp net, eight forks, a cat carrier, and twenty “extra” dollars.

They call me for stuff because they know I’m a pack rat.

I keep things.

I hold on to things.

I preserve odd things thinking I’m going to have a use for them someday.

Need a bird nest? A snakeskin? A model of an Assyrian chariot? A bust of Jax London or Homer or Shakespeare or the Emperor Hadrian ? A dog skull? A statue of a naked lady? A World War I artillery shell? A model of the Titanic? A box full of assorted hats? Owl pellets? A mummified rat?

I’ve got it.

I accumulate things.

So it was no surprise when my daughter called wanting “Old Egyptian-looking stuff”. She knew I’d be likely to have something or the other like that on hand.

Ginny says we live in a museum.

I say the place has a certain ambience.

Jesus said, “Every scribe that is instructed unto the kingdom of Heaven is like unto a man that is a householder who bringeth forth out of his treasure things old and new”.

There’s the rub.

I feel that all I’ve been doing recently is dredging up old things, stuff dead as Tut. Rehashed ideas. I’m saying things I’ve said before again and again. Then repeating myself.

Nothing fresh or new or exciting.

My vision of the Lord God, high and lifted up, has faded till I’m relying on memory of visions past.

But memories of inspiring times in the past grow stale in the problems and challenges of the present.

Oh, I see wherein I’m stagnant. Every scribe instructed… brings out treasures.

I get so tied up thinking about what great wisdom I have to offer other people, poor souls, that I neglect being instructed of God for myself.

If a Bible verse means nothing to me, why should I pass it on to somebody else?

The Word is, “John Cowart, Seek Ye First…”


Please, visit my website for more www.cowart.info and feel free to look over and buy one of my books www.bluefishbooks.info
posted by John Cowart @ 5:38 AM

5 Comments:

At 6:20 AM, Blogger jellyhead said...

But that's the thing about you, John - you are always striving to be a better person. You never seem to get complacent. It is one of your loveliest qualities.

PS The variety of stuff you own is incredible ... you must be a Super Pack Rat!

 
At 9:14 AM, Blogger Battlerocker said...

Good post. I like the analogy between things and advice. However, it's hard, at least for me, to retain as much excitement in any of the words or experiences I take in as when they are fresh. And, the more we take in, the harder the truly new is to find.

 
At 12:07 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

John you are truly honest and a kingdom seeker.

The older memebers of my family are pack rats too. We have a huge store room to keep 'extra ' things. I keep disposing off things specially clothes and linen.I could give you lots of ethnic Indian things to add to your museum.

I have 2 or 3 giving away trunks in which i keep stuff to distribute to needy people.
Amrita (India)

 
At 8:28 PM, Blogger agoodlistener said...

I could see where you were going with this one, "instructed" scribe. I finally resumed my Bible study this year, currently going through Matthew. Thanks for the cool post. I also save stuff, but lately I've been bringing boxes up to church for the summer rummage sale. As nature abhors a vacuum, other stuff appears in its place. When I can't get to the washing machine, then I know I have a problem.
(word verification is "ewgly". Could be a great word, expressing disgust?)

 
At 5:44 AM, Blogger jellyhead said...

John, are you OK? It's not like you not to post for this long...not without notice.

Hope you are busy with happy activities, and nothing too stressful.

Best wishes,
Jelly

 

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