The greatest joy I have every morning is not only getting up but also stepping in my office.
I step inside, pause for a moment, and look around at all the books on my shelves. I have almost 10,000 books. And yes, I read every one of them. Well, except for commentaries and dictionaries.
Every once in a while, The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage, wife Martha, will come into my office while I’m working. She’ll step in, pause, look all around my office, and then say, “What a mess you have.”
I’ll look up to her with a big smile on my face and reply, “Where do you see any mess?”
With sort of a grunt in her voice, she says, “Just look all around this office. It’s a mess everywhere. I don’t know how you can work in this environment?”
“It’s not a mess,” I respond to her, “it is my creative décor.”
I’m sure she’s never heard that phrase before, especially coming from my mouth.
Several times, I walked into her craft room and noticed how pristine it is. When I walk in, I get a bit dizzy, and I’m not sure how to get out. Such organization is not my cup of tea.
Unlike Martha, I don’t have to have everything organized. And the word “messy” is not part of my vocabulary.
Often, I’ll ask her, “What do you mean by messy?”
Oh, she’ll go on a long tirade explaining to me what she considers messy. I listen, but I don’t comprehend what she’s saying.
Messy isn’t part of me. Not too long ago, while she was in her craft room, I peeked in and said, “Would you like me to organize your room?”
She stared at me for a moment and then said, “I think I’m quite all right here. There’s nothing here that you can do to organize this room. Just go to your messy office and get back to work.”
Whereas in my “messy office,” I can find anything I want. If I can’t find it, I don’t need it.
And if I don’t need it, I’m not going to worry about it. Life can bring you a lot of lemons, but I’d rather have iced tea.
Sometimes, as I walk around in my office looking at my library, I see a book I haven’t seen for a long time. With great delight, I go to my chair and begin reading it.
All the books in my office have created a beautiful display that I enjoy every day. Since my retirement, I can go in and out of my office as I please.
As I was sitting in there, thinking about this, I was reminded of a verse of Scripture that addressed it.
The Apostle Paul said:
“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”
— 1 Corinthians 15: 58
According to Martha, my office is a mess, but that’s not the important issue. The thing that must be organized is my service to God.
That’s the only thing that’s crucial in my life every day.
Dr. Snyder is a former pastor who lives with the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage, wife Martha, in Ocala, Fla. His email is [email protected].
