DON'T BLINK

Hope of  Rebirth, Jamestown, NC

Kenny Chesney has a great country song titled “Don’t Blink” about the fleeting passage of time, e.g., you go to sleep one day and you wake up married to your childhood sweetheart!  Of course, time does seem to fly by faster when we’re enjoying ourselves instead of burning daylight in distasteful activities like going to the dentist.  If you Google “fleeting time” you’ll find many quotes on the subject.  And those observations cast a wide net over time and humanity.  You have to believe that every human being that ever drew a breath on this planet has easily experienced fleeting time, especially since modern man invented the clock.  But even earlier in time man watched the years, seasons and days slip by without ceasing. 

Only our creator has been recognized as being timeless, while we mortal beings with frontal lobes in our brains understand that our beginnings have endings that arrive all too soon.  Our pets wake up each morning living constantly in the present moment without the concern for endings.  We could all take that lesson from them, understanding that mortal life does have a stop date, but Jesus has left us with the promise to be with us always and he has prepared a forever spiritual life for us after this mortal life.

All of the miraculous wonders of another spring season burst into our lives every year to remind us of the hope for a meaningful life and the hope of rebirth available to all creation, because of the cross and resurrection that occurred one spring season over two thousand years ago.

We need to make peace with the passing of time and embrace each waking moment we have without knowing exactly how much sand is left in the hourglass.  I do recognize that I have more days behind me than I have ahead of me.  Using our time wisely and intentionally also includes wasting some of it to recharge and refresh.  If we can learn from the past and plan for the future, our present moments can be filled with gratitude, fearless hope, healthy relationships and new possibilities.  

So, don’t blink!  And we will rest in peace.

MOON OVER JAMESTOWN

 

MOON OVER JAMESTOWN, NC

“The moon looks wonderful in this warm evening light,

just as a candle flame looks beautiful in the light of morning.

Light within light...It seems to me to be a metaphor for the human soul,

the singular light within that great general light of existence.”

~Marilynne Robinson, Gilead

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LONELINESS AND SOLITUDE

SUNRISE SOLITUDE, Kiawah, SC

I lived alone for a short time after I graduated from college and started my first real job at Hercules.  Karen and I were married not too long after that when she graduated.  We were together for 44 years until cancer took her life almost 17 years ago.  I was in the process of adjusting to living alone once again and walking into a restaurant where the hostess asked “How many?”, answering “one please”, and getting an unwelcome response of “Oh, Just One?”   And then I walked into a small restaurant for a late lunch in Blowing Rock where I was photographing the fall colors.  The owner approached me and asked the usual “How many?”  But then she surprised me when I responded “One Please” and she replied “Oh, then you’ll be in good company!”  I left a generous tip that day, not for the service or food which was excellent, but the life lesson from a woman who knew the difference between loneliness and solitude.  

About one fourth of the nation’s people live alone.  With the exception of a catastrophic accident, most all couples will face the prospect of living alone after one departs.  Even those who live with a partner experience time alone together.  I’ve observed couples dining out that make it through an entire meal without being in conversation.  People can be alone in a crowd.  People attending events such as a church service who arrive, go directly to their chosen pew, and then exit to the parking lot, practice “getting together alone”.  And how often do we see images of teenagers and now older folks out in public and alone together staring at their cell phones?

There are many positive values to the concept of solitude, however.  Paul Tillich writes that “Loneliness expresses the pain of being alone and solitude expresses the glory of being alone”.  The frenzied mother of four small children certainly understands the glory of some alone time.  Solitude is pleasant; loneliness not so much.  Solitude is good medicine for recharging and reflection!  Jesus often went away to be in solitude to pray and escape the demanding crowds. 

Finally, loneliness can be offset by learning our way around it and focusing on liking the person you have spent your entire life with in both good times and bad.  All people need a support network and social connections, like joining a breakfast club!  We were created in God’s image as relational beings after all!  And our creator has gone on record, as committing to be with us always.  So, we’re never really alone!   But of course, relationship is a two-way street.  We have to take time out to nurture that relationship and open up to the joys and concerns of our life.  We have to make a habit of talking and listening or we’ll simply coexist alone together.

No troubling emotion can resist grace forever,

especially the grace of God promising to be with us forever!     

 

COMPARISONS

COMPARISONS

There are things I did, thoughts I believed, ways I voted, etc. years ago that I do not subscribe to the way I live today.  So please don’t compare me or yourself for who we were then, but the person we are today.  Comparisons are the thief of joy.  Life is all about perspective.

If you live in the United States of America with all its faults and warts, you may easily become a victim of comparisons without appreciating how good life can be here.  The U.S. economy has the world’s largest Gross Domestic Product.  New York’s economy is as big as Canada and Texas’ is as big as Italy. 

You may think you have a boring life compared to your neighbor, but there are world citizens praying for such a life, where every day is a struggle for survival.  Our basic problem seems to revolve around appreciating what we have and becoming more of a citizen of the world by finding out how others live and helping them, rather than comparing our lot in life by others in our country.  We’re living better than the majority of the world’s population.  We freak out when the power is interrupted by a storm for a few hours, oblivious to the circumstances of millions that live without utilities every day.  We take too much for granted, since most folks around us have them.

We’re forever complaining about our lack of athletic abilities compared to the pros that were born gifted and practice incessantly every day to hone those skills.  We compare our height, weight, looks, talents, etc. to extraordinary people who represent a minutia of the world’s population, but are constantly on all sorts of social media, leaving us with the impression that these types are everywhere and we got the short end of the stick.

The only comparison we need to worry about is being a better person than we were yesterday.  And help make the world a better place, one person at a time.  Let it begin with me.

MEMORY DOORWAYS

DOORWAYS, Jamestown, NC

Most all of us humanoids have experienced the baffling experience of having some specific chore on our minds as we walk into a room, are distracted by a phone call while on our iPads, driving without the guidance of electronic devices, etc. and we suddenly lose track of our intentions.  Based on a recent article on the subject, it seems as though our brain has been creating mental bookmarks called event boundaries, dividing our day into distinct before-and-after sections for easier recall.  For example, as we move from room to room through our doorways, our brain perceives a change in environment, triggering a change in boundaries.  Things usually go as planned unless we become distracted.   

For example, we may be on a mission to Google a question when we are interrupted by a call.  When we finish the call, we can no longer recall what we were searching for on the Internet.  Or we have every intention to walk into the study for a ball point pen when we are distracted by noticing a stack of papers that need our immediate attention.  In all these cases, the brain has been distracted by the sensations we perceive as we enter any new event boundary, losing the memory that sent us there in the first place.

Once the memory is out of reach, the only recourse might be to retrace our steps to the beginning of our quest on the iPad or in the room whose doorway exit caused us to lose our initial objective.  Or we could simply focus on not being distracted before we achieve our initial objective!

 

THREE KO'S

CHRISTMAS SIDEWALK, Jamestown, NC

 Thinking back on yesterday evening, I must have been knocked out for a brief time.  I remember jumping over the liriope where I had laid the culprit extension cord to get back to the Chiefs game.  The cord turned out to be a great jungle trip wire.  And my next memory is opening my eyes to wonder what the heck just happened as I lay face down on the concrete sidewalk with my glasses askew but undamaged.  Then I sensed some pain from my forehead and raised my hand to it, expecting to see blood on it, but there thankfully was none.  Realizing a passerby might notice my flat body on the concrete, I pushed up on my feet to take an inventory of what needed treatment since I take an aspirin every day to thin blood.  After seeing my Rudolph red nose and forehead in a mirror, I wonder how I didn’t bloody or break it.  I woke up this morning with a stiff neck, but a warm shower and two Tylenol did the trick.  

Remembering back in time, I’ve only been knocked out two other times in my full lifetime.  The first time was during a neighborhood flag football game on a vacant lot.  I had received the kickoff and was running at full speed for the goal line.  Another player was also running at full speed from my right side when my forehead collided with the side of his head.  I was left with a huge bump which I took home to my mother’s surprise.  That was in the classic Christmas Story days when a friend mentioned that he died once and his mother told him to “walk it off”!

The second KO happened when a few college friends and I stopped in at a remote dance hall one Saturday evening.  Apparently one of them asked the wrong girl to dance and a fight broke out similar to the classic Animal House unwelcome scene.  I jumped up to defend my friend and took a sucker punch from out of nowhere….and then I hit him in the fist with my jaw!  The good news was he immediately put me out of further harm and the KO helped to break up the scuffle as we exited the unwelcome dance hall.

So, in summary, I’ve been knocked out by a neighbor kid playing flag football, by a stranger in a college town dance hall and by myself tripping over a Christmas extension cord at home!

I am blessed this Christmas for everything I do not have today.  🌟

THE SPIRIT OF GIVING AT CHRISTMAS

 

THE SPIRIT OF GIVING

My daughter walked my five-year-old grandson over to a small neighborhood playground a couple of years ago just before Christmas.  Of course, he was most excited about the advent of Santa’s annual arrival on Christmas morning, as he had selected a couple of toys from a Holiday catalogue and he knew Santa wouldn’t disappoint.

When they arrived back at the house, he was visibly upset which was out of character, especially compared to when he had left home.  When I inquired, she mentioned that a young teenager had driven past the playground and shouted “Santa isn’t real!” within earshot of the kids. Some people believe God isn’t real.

I remembered having the same dilemma years ago when school children were spreading the same rumor.  Fortunately, we had prepared for the moment and explained that Santa is all about the spirit of giving, just like God.  And he has many helpers that are on his team, like the Santa in parades or the one at the department store where we get our picture taken.  We give presents to one another including strangers because we too like the good feeling of Christmas when we give to others.

My grandson understood that reasoning and immediately wandered off to play with a couple of toys that were still present from Christmas’ past.  All was forgotten on Christmas morning when he excitedly opened that one present from Santa which he had requested from the catalogue. 

And we too were uplifted by revisiting the spirit of giving and celebrating the greatest Christmas gift of all from the God of all creation—God’s gift of his son for the redemption of all mankind!  Just as folks can see the Spirit of Giving through Santa, they can see the Spirit of God through our own generous actions!  We remember the words of Isaiah 9:6, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given.  And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace”   

When you generously give the gift of giving,

And expect nothing in return,

You’re not doing business,

But spreading Christmas joy at every turn.

 

And when we leave this world,

For a better home some day,

Some of the things we’ll take with us,

Are joyful memories of things we gave away.

 

—Inspiration from The Christmas Coat