A TIME TO STOP

If this year has taught us anything, it has taught us the principle of the phrase “stop and smell the roses.” A quick online search reveals that the exact quote came from The Walter Hagen Story, an autobiography published in 1956. The famous golfer’s full quote was, “You’re only here for a short visit. Don’t hurry, don’t worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way.” The passage was soon paraphrased to 
“Stop and smell the roses.”
 
Despite the pandemic of Covid19, being quarantined, and adhering to the many social distancing practices, I have somehow managed to smell quite a few roses along the way.
 
The first and most important rose I smelled this year was the fragrance of goals accomplished. Namely, the publication of my eighth and ninth book. FIFTY MINUTES OF GRACE is a testimonial that’s been in the making since 2015. IT IS WRITTEN is a collection of old poems I’ve been working on since the late 1990’s. Both books reinforced the biblical principle I learned with my first book, A TIME TO WRITE, and that is, “To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). 
 
I also learned – and mastered – technology in 2020. I went from not knowing anything about Zoom, to using it every week (sometimes more than once). Teaching Sunday school classes to the young adults in my church; teaching writing classes for the local library; conducting poetry readings; and attending virtual family get togethers.
 
Now don’t get me wrong, 2020 also gave quite a few “shook” moments. From the rapid global spread of Covid19 to the protesters marching and rioters looting; from worrying about my “essential” son to the more than 10 people that I knew personally who died from this horrible, horrible disease.
 
But in the words of a seasoned church mother, I’m grateful for 2020, too. God blessed me and my loved ones to live through it without being infected with Covid19, although we have all been affected by in one way or another.
 
So like the golfer Walter Hagen six decades ago, as this year comes to an end, today I stop to smell the roses. And they smell divine.

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