Shredding My Words - Wegner

Although I’ve had little success with New Year’s resolutions, every January I spend some time contemplating what may be ahead and my role in making this a good year. That often leads to “commendable deeds” as opposed to iron-clad declarations. Over the first weekend of 2009 my first good deed involved a major clean-up of my home-based office. There wasn’t a lot of cleaning to do, as such, but it was shredding paper that posed the greatest challenge.

Good thing I’ve got a reliable large-capacity paper gobbler, going through files and binders was a massive effort. As a researcher, writer, and general paper collector, I’ve filled the shredder bucket several times and there are still piles of old notes, meeting agendas, draft reports and who-knows-what-that-was-for paper. It’s all headed for the diamond cut home of deceased documents.

Sometime in this process of ridding myself of a mountain of once valuable information, I realized that it wasn’t just paper I was shredding, it was words. Words that once were the embryonic beginnings of a published article or report hit the cutting blades with little thought. Sentences, worked and reworked, became part of a bag of confetti-sized waste material. I can only hope and pray that the finished projects yielded more value and met a better end than their beginnings.

“…so is my [God’s] word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55:11 (NIV-UK)
PS: For those as environmentally conscious as I am, this shredded paper will soon find its way into our “lasagna composting” mix along with freshly gathered sea weed and a purchased load of horse manure. May all those shredded words live on in the peas and beans we’ll harvest next Fall!