I mentioned in my last post that when Alec visits us we enjoy watching episodes of Monk. Monk has been the all the rage for a while in the community. It is a clever show. If you haven’t seen the series, the story centers around a disabled San Francisco detective who works as a subcontractor for the police department, solving interesting murder cases. He has obsessive-compulsive disorder which was exacerbated by the trauma of his wife’s murder. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is an anxiety disorder “most commonly characterized by a subject’s obsessive, distressing, intrusive thoughts and related compulsions.” It is often used in an “offhand manner to describe someone who is meticulous or absorbed in a cause.”

Perhaps, we enjoy Monk because we can identify, if not with the actual disorder, the tendencies and excesses of it. When I see Rick Warren’s book, The Purpose Driven Life, I think that I should write a book entitled, simply, The Driven Life. Looking back at my life, I see that at times I’ve gone overboard, obsessing about often minor issues. Perhaps, it was from a desire for excellence or, more probably, a manifestation of some brokenness or sinfulness. Whatever the case, I am thankful that age and constant interaction with God’s people has mellowed me out.

This Thanksgiving I am thankful that my friends have been there for me, helping me to become the man God wants me to be. It is through their love and long-suffering that maturity has seen the light of day in my life. Now its time for me to head out back and clean the dining room in preparation for our special meal. I wonder why I get assigned these cleaning tasks?