I have gone through the exercise of making New Year’s resolutions quite a number of times, but if I ever accomplished any of them, it was not by my own volition with the resolutions in mind. This year, though, I am in a little bit of a unique place in that I (we, really–gratefully including all the friends and family that helped me) have finished something big that I have worked on assiduously for many years. With that complete, there is a little bit of an empty feeling.
As usual toward the end of each year, I called some of the buddies with whom I have worked and do not want to lose touch, but do not have regular contact. With one of them, Andrew B., among other things, we talk about what we are working on–usually big picture items like career and education. This phone call was no different and it really got me realizing that I have no big picture thing at which I am aiming (of course, except the spiritual/religious thing that is way at the forefront of everything I do). But more importantly, it reminded me that my life is always profoundly better if I have something on which to work that is longer term, contributes to society, allows me to work with friends, and that is not particularly easy.
I have been able to identify a few things that I think would be good to do that are in a much smaller category, but that do not really rise to the level of a big, hard, good thing. I am not going to be able to identify that, but am writing this post as a marker to start thinking hard about it. In lieu of that, here is a short list of smaller things that I hope will keep me fruitfully occupied until and if God is willing. Some of it is just aspirational, so writing it down might get me off center to do it.
- Go to London (because London) and to Madrid (to look at Velazquez paintings in Del Prado)
- Perform two specific, short-term research projects with my friends at University of Nebraska–Lincoln and publish articles on the research
- Read some serious books–I have already purchased Richard Bauckham’s “Jesus and the Eywitnesses,” N.T. Wright’s “The Resurrection of the Son of God,” and Michael L. Brown’s five volume set titled “Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus”
- Setting Lorena up to better manage her house business with her brother Lynn in Mexico
- Helping Lorena start taking classes she wants to take on pottery, English pronunciation, etc.
I think I have enough to keep me occupied, but want to find something bigger, again, God willing.
