Crank-turning Life

Each morning as the sun breaks over the eastern hills that flank the Quabbin and shake me to consciousness, dreams of great things that will yet happen in the course of the next eighteen hours or so flood my mind. Coffee, a bowl of warm oatmeal, a few minutes on CNBC, a check of a Bible verse or two, a little prayer and I’m off with the rest of the world to execute victories and grandeur.

It doesn’t take long before the frost on the windshield and a low car battery calls forth an ice scraper, the defroster on high, a battery charger and a trip back to the kitchen for another cup of Java as I wait.

Charles Shattuck, a physician from decades ago, wrote a little pamphlet about living well. One comment he made shakes true every morning. “No matter how grand the dreams, we still have to turn the crank.” That’s where the work is; diligence, focus, attention to detail.

When involved in music in another era of my life, I calculated it took 20 hours of preparation for 1 minute of performance. When we’re at a concert, or the theater, or at worship, we see the culmination of endless hours of hidden crank-turning.

It can be discouraging, can’t it? Too often all we see is the final product and forget how much energy went into it. That can lead us to fantasies of quick results; sort of a Carnation Instant Life. Solomon was on the mark here as well when he wrote proverbs 12:11 “Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies lacks judgment.”

Have a good day, and work hard at the details behind the scenes!