Finishing is better than starting?

Solomon sometimes makes some pretty obvious statements - and Ecclesiastes 7 v 8 is one.  Of course it is better to finish than to start...right?  Well, as I am starting the final part of my PhD journey, I think back to the starting of the journey at the Serra Retreat centre in Malibu.  What a start that was!  Sure, there was anxiety about the newness, but meeting 19 classmates and 5 faculty was exciting - and many of these people have become good friends.  Eventually my roommate from the weekend, Levi, was able to laugh about the lack of sleep as a result of my snoring.  The location on a hill overlooking the pacific was amazing and a great place to start a program - academically, socially, and spiritually.

I've been focused on the finish, the degree, the celebration with my family, and an important roadtrip to California with my son as we both finish our degrees (him a BSc, me PhD) at the same time.  But there is much to do in the next 12 months...the reality of which is looming large.  The final product has to be 200+ pages and I know that I'll have to write much more than that to get through the editing process.

The second part of verse 8, "Patience is better than pride" is a good reminder to me to be patient with myself and the process of writing. I'll need extra doses of patience and determination to reach all my writing deadlines in the next 12 months.  It is too easy to look at the finish ahead and the anticipation of the sense of accomplishment...and a strong caution about pride.  In the end, I am only a kid - a son of immigrants and a child of God - who is trying to making meaning out of the world that God has created.

Yesterday, I needed to be a dad to my kids - one who celebrated a first full-time job and another who unexpectedly ended up in a conflict.  I'm a husband and father first...so first things first.  And as I turn to my writing this morning, I pray for sharp insight, focus, determination, and patience as I start the finish.