1440

I logged my latest new book into the library and checked the status. I have 1440 physical Christian books in my home. The number bounced around my head as I thought of all the other books on the shelves.

There are 1440 minutes in the day, I wonder how many books I would browse before I found something that would engulf me for 1440 minutes. I read five books all the way through last week so that I could effectively review them for Amazon, Goodreads and Librarything, but I could’ve read more.

Then I was thinking of how to express a day as part of a minute – well here is the math:

1/1440 = 0.000694444444444

A minute looks so small in comparison to a day. But as we waste many minutes we also waste many days. This week I have been focused on walking more than 10000 steps as often as I could. With two days missing, my daily average is 9350, so I think it was achieved. I loved doing it but it made me get behind with chores and other stuff.

There was a time I got paid to walk 10000+ steps a day and then I’d go kickboxing and stuff. Trying to get back to that level of fitness is so hard as I get older.

Balancing reading and activity reminds me of the balance we are each called to maintain of social action and holiness. I got some help from an old schoolfriend who has found something to fight for. Her call to action whilst putting her own self-centred worries and moanings to one side is inspirational:

What I really want for my 50th Birthday – PLEASE read to the end

To celebrate my birthday I was planning to travel down to Leipzig and race a Half Marathon. Due to insufficient training due to pressures of work and to injury I will not be racing – but I will still be running and I would really appreciate the support of ALL of my fb friends.

I will be running next Sunday to celebrate the fact that I’m 50 , can still run a half marathon, can run in a beautiful and safe environment and can run just because I want to. I will run and enjoy it because I can and I will run and with every step I will be thankful for so many things that allow me to have a wonderful life. And I will run every step and reflect that it is all random and all because of who I am and because of the luck of what part of the world I was born In and I will be TRULY GRATEFUL !

This will not come as any surprise to those of you who know me well but I moan a lot, I also expect a lot of myself and others, I shout a lot and I am not very good at keeping it to myself if things don’t go the way I think they should.

I moan about how much work I have to do – ( I have a job I love, through which I have met some incredible people, made friends for life and which has enabled me to give my children a great education)

I moan about my house that is falling down around my ears – (We have a cosy house that is warm, dry and safe)

I moan about my disrespectful kids- (Ok they are not perfect but they are decent kind amazing people who have shown me more love and joy than I knew was possible and have taught me more than I could ever have imagined – a lot of which I didn’t really want to know :0) )

I moan about my health – (I have a neurological condition that with easily accessible health care and the support of my long suffering husband I have learnt to live with – I’m still running races (slowly) and playing football (badly) but I still can.

I moan about money – (I have no idea how I will pay for my daughter and next year my son) to go to university – but I will and know that I also have the support of some amazing family and friends who are in a position to and willing to help when the going gets rough.

I sit and moan whilst thousands of people are fleeing their homes because they have no food, no medical care, no way to protect themselves or their children from the atrocities going on around them and no hope that if they stay anything is ever going to change for them. I sit and moan as children are dying in their parents arms and there is nothing they can do to stop it . And I sit and moan because it is all so unjust and unnecessary but I can’t do anything to stop it.

I could go on and on and on but what I am trying to say is that I am going to be 50 and I have sooooooo much to be grateful for and life is good – and whilst I am enjoying my race and celebrating how lucky I am there will be other people crammed into the back of a lorry, fighting for breath only to be left dying on the side of a motorway as the Mercs and Audis and VWs drive by full of people like ME moaning about how bad I have it. And there will be mothers and fathers desperately swimming for miles, holding their children’s heads above water swimming with only the hope of survival and nothing else keeping them going.

I sit, I comment , I empathise but I can’t change it and so I do nothing

But that has got to stop!

I can’t stop it – but I CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE and so can YOU.

I know a lot of you are already doing things that take you out of your comfort zone to help others and donations are on their way causes that are close to your lives and will make a difference to other peoples lives.

I was thinking of asking of sponsorship for my run to donate money to one of the charities supporting the refugees but have decided not to. I would however still ask for your support. I would be really grateful if everybody who reads this could just think about something that you can do to help somebody less fortunate and how you can make a difference in September.

I have signed up to help out a couple of times a week doing something hands on at our local homeless centre and will be donating what I can and what is really needed to the refugees that have just arrived in Bad Godesberg – I know this is merely a drop in an ocean but I also know that however small a gesture it will still make a difference to somebody’s life and if everybody I know (and everybody they know ) makes some small donation of money, time or goods that together it will make an impact.

And as a final point I want to give a shout out to my brother, who – despite his infuriating self righteous attitude, appalling dress sense, horrific sense of humour and chronic bad temper – is the most socially minded person I know and has inspired me to get off my very comfortable back side and actually put my money where my mouths and actually DO something instead of just talking about it

• SO WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO IN SEPTEMBER ??????

And I look at my calendar for September, my 43200 minutes, or, 2592000 seconds and I wonder how many of those minutes will get wasted. How many of the minutes could be used in social action?

During Lent, I do the 40acts from stewardship.org and continue it through the year as much as I am able. I am working 3 extra days this month so I can give more to help with the migrants pouring into Europe, I don’t know how yet and I am doing the Christian Aid walk next week, there will be a van load going to Simon Community.

Because of my 50-year-old friend I am now trying to get creative of how I can do more. Where can I volunteer my free time this month? I have five free days…

As part of my discussion of 1440. If I worked for 40 hours in a week that’s how much I would earn, that is one euro for each minute of one day. So I sit and write and realize I am truly blessed to have access to safe work when it is necessary, I have a roof over my head, access to water, a beautiful vehicle and don’t get started at how blessed I am to have my family all around me. Why wouldn’t I do something more for those who, in this season, are in dire straits?

What about you?

*** UPDATE: My library stands at 4903 at this moment, I have not half-marathoned or even 5k’d.