“Fix” is a strange word. It can mean to repair something. You can fix your car when it is broken. It can mean to prepare something. You can fix your dinner, even if it is not broken. And it can mean to put something solidly in place, literally or metaphorically. A piece of furniture can be fixed to the floor or an idea can be fixed in your mind. You can have a fixed price on an item at a garage sale or the outcome of a basketball game can be fixed (which really means it’s broken). You can decide to get even with someone and say, “I’ll fix you.” You can have your pet cat fixed (and that is a good idea) and you can fix your eyes on something. You can fix atmospheric nitrogen by converting it to a stable form. You can fix a photographic print by treating it with chemicals so that it attains a permanent form. You can fix a biological specimen, such as a butterfly you’ve captured, so that it does not decay. Those are just its uses as a verb.
Fix is also a noun. You can be in a fix. You can get a fix on a distant object. You can get a chocolate fix (wait a minute, ok, I’m back). You can look for a quick fix to a problem. All that and more with just three letters.
Another use of the word intrigues me because it is part of my heritage. In Texas and other places in the South, you can be “fixing to do something” (pronounced: fick-sen + any infinitive). “Fixin’ to” is one of those Southern expressions many of us have grown up with. We know exactly what it means. It means to get ready, to prepare. “Fixin’ to,” along with “reckon” and “y’all” (plural, “all y’all) are part of the lingo of Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia.
“Fixin’ to” means “to be about to do something; to plan to imminently.” But the 'plan' sense does not necessarily involve any preparation. It could mean “to be thinking about doing something,” as in:
“Honey, take the garbage out.”
“I’m fixin’ to.” (Or, in some places, "I'm a fixin' to.")
“I’m fixin' to feed the chickens" could go with either sense. However, an expression like "It's fixin' to rain" could only go with the "be about to" sense. I read that the expression first shows up in the 1930s. Folks in the South Atlantic and Gulf states use it most, and only used with actions that are going to happen immediately: you wouldn't say, "I'm fixing to get married in five or ten years." If you're fixing to get married, you better put out your cigarette and go on inside the church.
Well, I’m fixin’ to go to Africa and Thailand. That means, in this case, that I’m getting ready. Getting ready is involving lots of practical details: packing lists, visas, airline tickets, arranging for the house and dog to be cared for, taking the car to my son, and a hundred others laundry list items. It is also involving getting together presentations for a group of African village pastors (9 hours on biblical interpretation), a group of African university students (five sessions on understanding the Bible), and a group of American missionaries (caring for your own soul). Others who are making the trip have their own lists of things to do and people on the other side of the world are getting ready, because we are fixing to come. Then, a few weeks from now I’ll begin to make new preparations because I’ll be fixing to come back home.
I am struck with how much of our lives are lived in preparation for something. We begin each day by preparing to go out and end each day by preparing for bed. From the time we are in kindergarten we are living in a mode of preparation. Even when we have finished our education and begun a career, we are constantly preparing for something. We prepare for a wedding and a marriage. We prepare to move. Three times Melinda and I have prepared to receive a new child into our lives, buying the necessities, rearranging our home, getting necessary medical care. Now we are fixing to have two grandchildren.
Well, I’m fixin’ to go to Africa and Thailand. That means, in this case, that I’m getting ready. Getting ready is involving lots of practical details: packing lists, visas, airline tickets, arranging for the house and dog to be cared for, taking the car to my son, and a hundred others laundry list items. It is also involving getting together presentations for a group of African village pastors (9 hours on biblical interpretation), a group of African university students (five sessions on understanding the Bible), and a group of American missionaries (caring for your own soul). Others who are making the trip have their own lists of things to do and people on the other side of the world are getting ready, because we are fixing to come. Then, a few weeks from now I’ll begin to make new preparations because I’ll be fixing to come back home.
I am struck with how much of our lives are lived in preparation for something. We begin each day by preparing to go out and end each day by preparing for bed. From the time we are in kindergarten we are living in a mode of preparation. Even when we have finished our education and begun a career, we are constantly preparing for something. We prepare for a wedding and a marriage. We prepare to move. Three times Melinda and I have prepared to receive a new child into our lives, buying the necessities, rearranging our home, getting necessary medical care. Now we are fixing to have two grandchildren.
Preparation is a part of God’s work. Moses prepared 80 years for a 40 year work. Jesus prepared 30 years for three years of ministry. Paul prepared in the deserts of Arabia. The stones in Solomon’s Temple were prepared by the stone cutters in the quarry so that the noise of the hammer and chisel would not be heard in the Temple. They were made to slide into place.
Almost everything we experience seems to be preparation for something else. God is constantly readying us for further service. Do you see the preparations going on in your life right now? Do you see the preparations God is making in our church? He is fixing to do something in your life, in our lives.
One thing we seldom think about, because of fear or because we regard it as morbid, is that we are fixing to die. Or at least we should be. Living this life really is preparation for something more. (Now I would also make the case that this life is not a dress rehearsal or a practice round, but is the real thing and should be taken seriously each and every day.) But this life is not all there is and we are human becomings who are fixing to live forever. We ought to be getting ready.
I reckon that’s all the musings I’ll offer all y’all for now. I’m fixing to study.
rrc
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