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Building One Another


E. Stanley Ott

THE FRITTER FACTOR Vol 12 No 7

March 5, 2013

Dear Friend,

The verb “to fritter” means to reduce, waste or squander little by little. “She frittered away the afternoon.” “He frittered away his inheritance.” Think about the many ways contemporary life intrudes on whatever you are doing and the many ways you do things that fritter your time away.

Do you find yourself checking email every few minutes and if a shadow of an email message appears on your screen, do you shift to it immediately?

Do you find yourself checking Facebook “just briefly” several times a day?

Are you a texter involved in many mini-conversations that have no real end  and that may extend well past the time you are in bed?

While you may not personally engage in any of these particular behaviors, it is worth asking to what degree the “Fritter Factor” controls  your life. As Edward Bosworth said years ago, “What gets your attention gets you!” So what is getting your attention?

Since studies of efficiency and effectiveness would show we can be much more purposeful with our time if we choose to do so, will you continue to allow the Fritter Factor the control you give it?

Consider the words of the Apostle Paul, “This one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13b-14*  May our Lord’s love and our Lord’s purposes be what gets your attention, and so get you! 

With joy - E. Stanley Ott
Copyright 2013 E. Stanley Ott
*Scripture from the NRSV