From the Mailbag...

Well, not the mailbag, but the comment section.

Jacobswell writes: hey randy, i was reading one of your posts and you talked about sharing with someone about "what is pressing vs. what is important". that kinda intruiged me a bit and i wonder of you have anything on that idea?

First of all, welcome to the blog. Second, I'd love some clarification about your ID. Are you refering to Jacob's Well or the concept that Jacob is Swell? I think there's validity to both, personally.

In relation to your question, leave it to me to misquote myself. I wrote (but did not say) "what is pressing vs. what is important." What I meant to say was "what is pressing vs. what is weighty."

We are all pressed on every side by things...commitments (some worthwhile, others sort of iffy), passions, people and demands. In the moment, it would feel like everything pressing on me is of the same weight - that all demands are created equal - when in reality, some of what is pressing on me feels like a ton but will not mean anything over the grand scheme of things.

As a goofy example, it is 12:49 PM and I have not had lunch. I feel impressed to eat. It is at the forefront of my mind - so much that I may or may not finish this post before running off for a sandwhich, and it's not wrong to do so. At the same time, this pressing thing is not weighty in the long run. Ten days from now, I will not remember what I had for lunch today. Pressing, but not weighty.

Weighty matters are those of callings that I have that cannot be deferred to a later time or some kind of subcontract arrangement. The raising of my children is a weighty thing. My personal pursuit of all that is Holy is a weighty thing. The fact that these things have heft at every moment of my life has an odd distributive effect. They weigh much, but I do not always feel the weight of them like I should...meanwhile, I get pushed around by pressing matters (like the need for a sandwhich or to mow the yard).

What I told the staffer was to pay special attention to those things they would deem weighty. They do not always get the attention that they deserve in our push and shove world.

And that's what I meant when I misquoted myself. :)