On James Vincent McMorrow and Getting Things Done

I fell in love this week. I have been staying up late and getting up early thinking about what he wrote. I have been craving hearing his voice. I fell in love with the music of Irish folk singer James Vincent McMorrow. I bought his album Early in the Morning on a whim this week and I am crazy about it. Apparently, the album was written "during a self-imposed seclusion in a beach house in Ireland". You can tell this is true just by listening to the album and reading the lyrics. I have been to a beach house in a quiet town in Northern Ireland myself so I can imagine what McMorrow may have been experiencing. There is something pure and raw about what McMorrow has written and I credit it both to solitude and artistic character. Listening to McMorrow's album Early in the Morning brings back a flood of good memories for me. Noteworthy tracks include "And If My Heart Should Somehow Stop," "If I Had a Boat," and "We Don't Eat." I know this kind of music is not something everyone enjoys but I would encourage anyone to give James Vincent McMorrow a chance anyway.

In the literature department, I spent last weekend immersed in a book on organizational system and methodology. I know the topic does not sound overly interesting, but I found this work particularly enjoyable. It is David Allen's "Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress Free Productivity". I have to say, I think Allen's entire method is unnecessary for me at this point in my life. However, I spent time implementing parts of his system at work yesterday and I am already finding it helpful despite its simplicity. I just love getting organized, so it has been neat to try out a slightly different system than I am used to. And, anyone who considers a label maker to be something you should or could be using every day at work has me on their side; I just LOVE a label maker!

I am also quite amused by David Allen's creation of the "Tickler File." It is a system of 43 file folders and is more or less a "calendar in a filing cabinet" where each folder represents one day. I do not think it would be very useful to me (or most people?) but Allen swears by it and I believe even mentions that he "can't possibly imagine living without his [tickler file]". So perhaps I will have to make my own Tickler File someday, too!

One of the points Allen reiterates about organization is that you must have a system you can trust in. You must build a system that functions well, and monitor it consistently otherwise you will not trust your system and therefore will not trust yourself and the work you are doing. This makes sense to me, but I am glad to have a much greater level of trust. I am glad to know that even if all my systems collapse on me that I can trust God in all things. However, I think some of Allen's ideas of trust apply to my spiritual life, too. If I monitor and review the times God has been so faithful and good in the past, I will know that I can trust Him with my present and my future. And clearly, remembering what God has done and worshiping Him for it is expressed as important in the Bible. I'm thinking of Joshua building Him an altar and of Psalm 105 in particular but I am sure there are many more examples. I like that the end of Psalm 105 tells us why God even bothers to be faithful to us even when we are unfaithful skeptics and ungrateful children: "so that his people would obey all his laws" (verse 45).

That's a beautiful thing, because ultimately, God's laws are what bring us freedom. He is faithful so that we, the unfaithful, may be free.