Our Best-Laid Plans

As poet Robert Burns reminds us in the seventh stanza of his oft-quoted Scots poem, we earthly creatures too often default to guessing and fear:

"To a Mouse"

By Robert Burns

(On Turning her up in her Nest, with the Plough, November 1785)

But Mousie, thou art no thy-lane,

In proving foresight may be vain:

The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men

Gang aft agley,

An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,

For promis'd joy!

In contemporary English, Burns writes the following to the mouse whose home he has just unearthed: "But mouse-friend, you are not alone / in proving foresight may be vain: / the best-laid schemes of Mice and Men / go oft awry, / leaving us only grief and pain, / for promised joy!" In other words, we plan and worry, so often forgetting that God is in control.

This past Monday, a research associate at Harvard University tweeted the following: "How do academics with two or more kids get everything done? Wrong answers only." And in the mire of a global pandemic, polarizing angst, and unrest about the future, the answers on Twitter have been delightfully amusing. Substitute your own work or other daily obligations for "academics," and beware the sarcasm:

"Our household operates under a lab mentoring model," wrote an associate professor from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "The oldest is responsible for the middle, who is responsible for the Tiniest, who is responsible for the dog. It is a perfectly oiled machine. I just put my name on the papers once they're done."

"It's so easy, I get everything on my to-do list done by waking up early every day and successfully multitasking when the kids are home doing quiet, enriching activities," wrote an associate professor from Rowan University.

"Write when the baby writes. Teach when the baby teaches. Do research when the baby does research. Complete committee work when the baby does committee work," wrote an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota's medical school.

"I schedule eight minutes of me-time everyday from 6:43 a.m. to 6:51 a.m. Just completely rejuvenated and super productive. You gotta make time in your schedule, you know?" wrote an assistant professor at Baruch College.

Less than 24 hours after his initial tweet, the Harvard research associate posted that his infant is home with a fever. Ah, our best intentions so quickly interrupted by life ...

As you consider your own obligations, plans, and responses to interruptions, remember that our Creator -- thankfully -- is so much larger than our best-laid plans:

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways,"

declares the Lord.

"As the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts."

-- Isaiah 55:8-9

Blessings on your week,

Jennie