Fuzzy
Things have gotten fuzzier as the days go by. That’s true for me in all sorts of ways right now, and I suspect that I’m not alone. I don’t need to shave every day; the beard grows fuzzier. I can’t go get a haircut; the ‘do gets fuzzier. The weekly patterns are thoroughly disrupted; the days are fuzzier. I’m just getting older; the memory grows fuzzier.
But then there was the shock of seeing a Heart.Soul.Mind video class from early in the Great Pause. The focus was so clear. The picture was so sharp. I looked again at last week’s video and saw that it had all gotten a lot fuzzier – somewhat out of focus, grainier, even a bit blurry. Things have gotten fuzzier.
How could this happen? I wondered whether the new camera software in which we invested might be at fault, even though it was meant to improve the options and control available. Or perhaps the camera lens had gotten grimy – but how?? Well, after a bit of sleuthing I may have found it. (Or not!) It could be a function of how many programs and processes are running on my computer as I do the recording. When I’m overloading the system with background activity in a half-dozen programs and a dozen or more open windows on my browser, the camera app is starved for bandwidth. It just can’t push through enough information to make a nice picture.
The observation that too many things cooking at once can lead to real fuzziness, a degrading of how things function, recalls to mind a truth at the heart of the creation story. In Genesis, chapter 1, as God begins to create, the activity is actually one of organizing. It all starts out as a “formless void.” Darkness covers an abyss. Then God begins to sort things out: light from dark; sky from earth; land from water; day from night; mammals from reptiles and insects; birds from fish and humans. Each act is marked as the work of a day, and that day is separated from the next day by God’s affirmation: it is good.
God spoke into a formless void and was able to bring to it organization, relationships, and productivity. We are set by God into an ordered world with boundaries and limits, definitions and delineations. God doesn’t mean for us to take on all of creation at once, to handle all the ongoing processes that surround us simultaneously. Only God can manage a universe. When we try, things get fuzzy. Thank God for being able to turn off some things in order to focus on what is most important for us at any one moment. As we trust that God and our friends and family and a host of people we don’t even know are keeping their focus on others things, it’s another way to realize that we’re #inthistogether.
Jane Strittmater
This really helped me to see that I’m not alone in things becoming fuzzy. It’s It’s funny to me however, that in a time like this that I feel overwhelmed by all the things that I want to get done and have a fuzzy feeling as the days pass and I don’t seem to get some things done that I want to. I too am trying to keep my focus on what is important. Thanks, Pastor Peter for the above incite.
Genie Craven
“Fuzzy” that’s the word I’ve been looking for. Life for a 91 year old living in a Retirement Home in Columbus, Ohio is plenty “fuzzy” these days. Because I don’t get to worship in my own church except via Computer, I cannot pass the peace with long time members of the congregation and I’m not getting communion…life is “fuzzy” . BUT thank God He gave me Jesus to see through the “fuzz” and tell me “I love you” and I am with you all the way.
Georgeann Kreiter
Good to know this happens to others. Thank you for your words. Now to find how to get rid of the background stuff even while doing my best to focus!