How the Sabbath Helps Manage My Time

Dear D......,

Thank you ever so much for the books.

As a state legislator, finding free time to read now indeed is a dilemma for me.

Folks send me, or strongly recommend to me, books on various political and constitutional topics, usually their pet project or issue, and I have a stack of over thirty books sitting on my desk, patiently waiting for me to find the time to read them.

And they are the ones that I simply have not tossed in the trash.

For instance, there's one particular tome about the horrors of male circumcision and why legislators should outlaw this "male child abuse". That one quickly went into the dumpster, but the memory of it coming in the mail to me still creeps me out.

It should not have surprised me, but I nevertheless was somewhat taken aback by the number of folks who had books that they insisted that I read and that, in their minds, were vital to my legislative duties. I don't think any of them realized that a host of others also were making similar entreaties of me about other books.

Even Church members have insisted that I read certain commentaries by various LDS authors. If I read all of those recommended books, I'd not be able to find time to read and study the Scriptures and Conference Talks, which I believe should be my spiritual study priority.

Meanwhile, there also is the seemingly endless host of local governmental and other group meetings in my home district, plus stacks and stacks of governmental study committee reports as well as similar documents from other citizen groups. Many of these also are book length.

There are not enough hours in the day to read all of these, so I must carefully consider and prioritize what is most relevant (and do-able), realizing that I must carefully manage my time or others will manage it for me (and quickly overwhelm me).

I'm now more grateful than ever for Sunday Sabbaths (the Lord's Day), because that is when I step away from all of this frenzy, in order to worship and simply and prayerfully reflect.

The West Virginia State Legislature is supposed to be a part-time citizen legislature that only meets three months a year and then for just a few days each month during the rest of the year, but I'm even busier when I'm back in my home district than when I'm at the State Capitol.

That's probably why so few citizens are able to even consider making the sacrifice to serve as legislators.

Even so and when I can grab a few minutes of "me" time, rest assured that the books that you so graciously have given to me will be read and enjoyed, sooner or later.

Larry