Easter 2008

Posted 05:30 PST Sun Mar 23, 2008 in Ruminations

I haven’t ruminated in awhile. Well, I have ruminated, just not in this space. I guess the professor part of me will never go away, it’s just been directed other places.

I woke this morning thinking about range day. Today the Northern Nevada IDPA club hosts a match, like they do twice each month. One bay will be set aside for a classifier shoot. The classifier is required once each year (at least) to determine the shooter’s division. (I’m in the next to lowest-skilled division, of course.) The remaining three bays will hold an exercise each.

I love range days in part because they get me outside and focused on something else. It’s a good skill to practice and requires considerable focus. I haven’t been to the range in about three weeks, which is long for me.

This morning, though, I’m reluctant to go. It is not that I will not enjoy myself. I woke this morning thinking about what I owe folks in terms of work product. I can think of three right now that I owe, and there are others. I don’t like how I feel about that. At an IDPA event, there is a little shooting and lot of standing around. The standing around isn’t totally wasted time, because there is a social aspect to the matches.

However, I would rather spend the time satisfying some of my obligations to other folks I owe. So, I’m torn about going to the range this morning. I can go spend about four hours at the range, with about 15 minutes of that on the line. The remainder will be spent standing around and helping score and paste targets. These aren’t bad activities, but I feel like I need to spend the time working on the things I owe folks.

So, maybe I’ll drive out to the range and shoot the classifier. That would give me some range time, then I could work on some of my project work for a couple of hours and spend the remainder of the day with my family.

There is another part to this story. It’s Easter Sunday, the day we set aside to remember the resurrection of Jesus. I do remember why we set aside the day. The thought is never far from my mind, even if many of my prayers are ritualized over meals and other events. I pray at other times as well and those are “better” prayers — just talking to God about what I see, or what I think, or what I feel, or what someone else needs — many times wrapped up in my own thoughts directed outwards, or inwards.

Prayer — just talking to God. It’s an act of subjection, my mental and spiritual kneeling before the creator to acknowledge sovereignty and accept that he, the creator, actually cares about an individual, me. I still don’t understand that.

Ann Rice has a nice piece on the Newsweek site. It’s worth a read. She’s come a long way, perhaps full circle now. That’s a miracle, at least to my little mind.

Happy Easter, all. I remember.