Picking Up the Pieces

What will you leave undone today?

Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.

One of the things we confess as a sin is to leave something undone.

We all do it, don't we?  We start out doing something and then set it aside for another day, without giving it a second thought.  Will we get to take it up again tomorrow?

But what if we don't have tomorrow?  Who will finish or unwind what we left?

In business, we plan for continuity and growth.  We seek to ensure that the business keeps running regardless of what comes along.  But life is not like that.  The decision on continuity becomes the responsibility of the heirs, if we are blessed to have them.

All the future plans and commitments we leave in progress need to be dealt with, and if there is a sin in that, it might be in keeping all that secret from those we love, those who may survive us.

While it may not be possible to leave nothing undone, we may find a way to make it easier for others to wrap things up, to continue what they need to continue and to shut down what they need to shut down.

Social media apps are reminders of the lack of finite borders to our posts.  They could live on beyond our lifetime, because there is no plan set in motion to shut down or archive what we leave out there.

So, while I confess the things I have done that I can do little about, I also confess the things I have left undone, which I can do something about.  Perhaps, then, I should do something about them.

I can finish what I started, yes, but that assumes I have time to do so.  What if I don't?

Maybe a simple list of what is left hanging will be helpful, not just to me, but to whoever is left to pick up and rearrange the pieces of my life, should I not have the chance to do it myself.

Then, I won't have to confess those things, will I?

More to come...