I spent much of last week at work cleaning out the voluminous files I keep on all sorts of subjects and people I have reported on or interviewed. The newspaper, magazine and Internet clippings are stored for future reference in case I broach the topics or sources again.
In the past couple of years I’ve become less of an article saver, in large part because I just don’t have the room. In downsizing to a much smaller office last year, I had to relinquish one of my two full-size, five-drawer filing cabinets. I began clipping in earnest in 1993, my first year as news editor for Christianity Today.
During the past 18 years I’ve accumulated a lot of reading material to comb through. I managed to toss several wastebaskets full last week. Some of the people I collected articles on in the 1990s, such as Gary Bauer or Ralph Reed, just aren’t relevant in 2011. Others I’ve interviewed such as Jerry Falwell or abortionist killer Paul Hill have died.
Likewise, some of the hot topics of not that long ago — Ten Commandments displays and Pledge of Allegiance lawsuits, for instance — no longer are on the front burner. Aging high-profile figures of yesteryear such as Pat Robertson and James Dobson are no longer in the limelight. Others, among them John Ashcroft, Ralph Reed, Phil Vischer, Rodney Howard-Browne, Roy Moore and Randall Terry, have faded from the scene due to various circumstances.
Clearly, anyone’s time in the spotlight is only momentary. The best we can hope for is to make our mark in the few years that we have influence.
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