Best count, I have voted in elections of eight presidents. Each time, whichever side didn’t win, continued on somewhat aggrieved, aggravated, even a bit ornery. So, I have had quadrennia of gladness and orneriness. Still, best I can figure, in modern times, there has never been quite the canyon between the present delight and fright.

More fun than ‘discovering’ a good book on my own, I love good books recommended by good friends. Several friends have gotten my new year off to good book starts. One of these is LAB GIRL by scientist Hope Jahren. She is currently a professor at the University of Hawaii. The book flap notes Jahren received three Fulbright Awards in geobiology, has been recognized as among the leading young scientists in the world.

Some chapters describe in amazingly accessible ways how much goes on in soil, rocks, roots-limbs-leaves of trees and plants. Such reveals the miracle that there is anything, how such replenish the planet’s air and food. It is hard to read this and not want actually to hug a tree, nuzzle a plant.

Others recount: Hope growing up in Minnesota with good but fairly undemonstrative parents; her tough road to tenure and barely funded research; her adventures with her eccentric assistant and gaggle of students; navigating bipolar episodes; early on ‘pat on the head little lady treatment’ by male professors and scientist; a scrappy but authentic faith; marriage and parenthood joy she never imagined. The book is funny and inspiring.

Toward the end, Dr. Jahren writes: “I have accepted that I don’t know all the things that I ought to know, but I do know the things I need to know. I don’t know how to say ‘I love you’, but I do know how to show it…. When I am pressed, I resort to these two sentences: ‘You shouldn’t take this job too seriously. Except for when you should.’” (p.277)

So, how to live now? On this rainy, rumbly morning, I am pondering those two sentences…as a citizen, as a family person, as a professional person, and above/beneath it all as a follower of Jesus with unknown finite earth time ahead. How do we navigate the dapple between not taking our words, feelings, and actions too seriously, and taking them very seriously?

This is simple to say, not so simple to do. Hopefully, simple without being simplistic. There is a lot of pondering, praying, and conferring with trusted others to fill in the blanks. But here it is…

When it is about promoting oneself: not too seriously. When it is about protecting others: very very seriously.