A Dirty Old Man Stumbles On

I never swore a vow of poverty.

Might as well have, the way things worked out.

I’m poor in everything but love and books. That’s a pretty good deal. Bill Gates has his life and I have mine. And, in the last analysis, I would not trade places with the poor guy.

But… If I had more material, I’d definitely be a materialist.

But, since I don’t, I’m not.

What got me thinking along these lines Thursday is that I culled two more boxes of books from the shelves of my eleven bookcases, and it surprised me how stingy I feel about my books. I cling to them. I treasure them. I regret having to cull a single one.

With my mind-set, I’ll need to be buried in an oversized coffin lined with books.

As the bumper sticker says, The Man With The Most Toys When He Dies, Wins!

My friend Barbara treated me to lunch yesterday; she’d come over bringing a sweater she’d bought for Ginny. As we drove away from the house we saw the postman in the distance and chased him down to pick up an expected delivery of two more books — sample copies of my latest book, A Dirty Old Man Stumbles On: John Cowart’s 2007 Diary.

Yes, I culled two boxes of old books from my shelves, and added two new copies of a book I’d written myself.

Here’s a copy of the refurbished book cover:

Yes, 498 pages all about ME!

And I lead such a fascinating life.

Diary index entries include:

· Romance In Olden Days

· Pantyhose

· Miraculously Obvious

· Pleasures Fir Evermore

· Stacking Eggs

· The Ugliest Virgin

· Inspiration For Digging Ditches

· How Does God Show Love

· Knowing When To Quit

Which I don’t.

Anyhow, I’m happy that my book turned out so well. I’m really pleased with it. That’s one volume I don’t plan to cull. After all, it’s about me.

I hope book buyers find it as enthralling as I do and that it sells millions of copies. (it’s available at www.bluefishbooks.info — Hint. Hint).

But, back to materialism, Jesus once told a rich young ruler to sell all that he owned, give the money to the poor, and to follow Him.

Some Christians believe this is a specific instruction to one specific individual; others believe that it’s a blanket instruction to all dedicated Christians.

I think that people who have no commitment to Christ as all, and people who have a soul-deep commitment to Him above all else — both groups have an easier time getting along in life than us in-betweeners.

Those of us who vacillate — like say a guy who want to follow Christ but at the same time wants to hold on tooth and claw to his book collection — we are the ones whose lives and minds churn like beach sand in sea waves.

In their calls to commitment, preachers politely tell us we need to paint or get off the ladder (if you know what I mean).

Be for Christ or oppose Him outright.

It is the lukewarm that makes God want to puke.

So, I culled two full boxes of books from my eleven bookcases.

Won’t Jesus be just tickled pink with me today?