Our vegetable garden is progressing. Potatoes, carrots and onions are starting to show. Bean and courgette plants will go in this week. Good plans have been made. In a few months we shall be eating vegetables out of our garden.
For many years we have dreamt of extending and improving the Seagull Theatre. We made plans with an architect, got planning permission, applied for grants… We’ve recently heard… a grant from the Arts Council for £243,000! Good plans were made. The outcome was uncertain. Building will start in the Autumn.
We like good plans… weddings, holidays, a new kitchen… we think we’re in control.
I’ve had conversations with several friends recently about wills. How we best provide for our children. What’s right, what’s kind, who should have power of attorney…
Yesterday I helped Kim amend her ‘Advanced Directive’… including:
If I stop breathing and my heart ceases to function I do not wish to be resuscitated because of the immediate permanent physical damage it would cause. I do not wish to be fully dependent on and a burden to my family.
In a film or TV drama you understand it; when it’s a friend you feel it. We don’t like sad plans, but they’re necessary… we retain some control…
Musing… A number of friends have had tough plan-shattering weeks… an aggressive cancer diagnosis, a life-threatening heart condition, out-of-control blood pressure, dementia-influenced irrational behaviour… Unexpected, unwanted, unplanned.
We make fresh plans in an attempt to make sense of the non-sense, to regain control of the out-of-control, to make the best of the worst…
I return to the ancient wisdom of the King Solomon’s Proverbs… who was keenly aware of the randomness and mysteries of life…
‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding: in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.’ (3:5-6)
‘Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.’ (20:21)
malcolmsmusings.org 