"From Pocketbook to Purses"

Have you ever noticed the huge disparity in the sizes of women’s purses?

They can and do range anywhere from the tiniest one that will barely hold a driver’s license to a backpack. The tiniest size can work especially if you can ditch your phone, tissue and other necessities in the suit pocket of your escort. Backpacks work for students and young mothers going out on outings with myriad small children.

What sparked this blog was when I made the comment that I had an umbrella in my purse and now it was too heavy. Someone said,”An umbrella isn't heavy. What are you talking about?” And I had to admit that, no it wasn't the fault of the umbrella so much as the weight of the umbrella being added to the weight of all those other necessities [wallet, driver’s licence, cell phone, tissues, lipstick, pills, bandages, wet wipes, sunscreen, etc, etc, etc. ] that were already there.

And isn't that a good example of what often happens in our lives. Things are going along just fine, thank you very much, when all of a sudden something small and seeming inconsequential changes the whole picture. We say that something was ‘the straw that broke the camel’s back’.

Often in leaving a church, a theology, a belief system, or a world-view behind, we experience a similar happening, or more likely, as in my case, a series of such events. My understanding changed little by little causing no major dislocation to my long-held beliefs. Then one day there was that one more small change and all of a sudden, as they say of Jericho, ‘the walls came tumbling down’.

Putting it back together again is in reality coming up with a new worldview, or theology, looking at the pieces from the old and wondering if they can be salvaged, or if it is even worth-while trying. But more than anything else, it is finding that every time I think I have it all sorted out, something else pops up and says “What about me?” So I am learning to live with that ambiguity, change, and uncertainty.

Is there that 'straw that broke the camel's back" in your life?

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NUDGINGS: a journey into the unknown

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