Get On With It

Hi Michael: You might have been too young to remember, but there is a certain line that Grandma use to say to any of us who was sent to the store. At the time, I never determined the complete meaning of what she said. I just assumed that I knew enough about what she meant, and went about completing the mission. As I thought about it more recently, I tried to explore the depth of what she was saying. I have wondered if she was being half poetic and half realistic. Poetic because of the rhythm of her words, and realistic because of the true meaning of her words. Grandma would often say, “Go in a haste and come in a pace.” I never quite understood the ‘pace’ part. It seems a bit contradictory that one would hurry to fetch a purchase, but return at a pace with the item. Grandma knew what she was saying, and she must have been rather confident that we also understood her. Assuming she meant for us to complete the assignment as quickly as possible, we always did our best to follow her every command. I’m also sure that Grandma was not asking us to hurry without thought, or to the point where ‘haste’ makes ‘waste’. She was simply saying for us to get on with it and stay focused to the finish. Grandma could not read or write, but the lessons she taught have lasted for a lifetime. Michael, I have tried to get on with it, to Pursue the Course that God laid out for me, and to Stay Focused to the end. Like everyone else, I have had set backs and ‘knock me down blows’, but by the grace God I kept getting up. So Michael, whatever mission that God has assigned to us, may we ‘get on with it’. From time to time as we endeavor to get on with it, it will be necessary to set a certain pace, realizing that the finish lines are often far away. Learning to listen to God and his wisdom will greatly assist us at certain junctures. Though we did not realize it at the time, our grandmother's words were very strong and powerful. Those words uttered from the lips of one who could not read or write, speak volumes to me now. No, it doesn’t matter so much that we fall down or get knocked down sometimes; but it does matter that we ‘get up and get on with it’ to fight another round, and another and another, until the fight is over. That was grandma's way. cj07052014 Floyd Patterson Quotes: "It's easy to do anything in victory. It's in defeat that a man reveals himself." "They said I was the fighter who got knocked down the most, but I also got up the most."