Wednesday, July 25, 2012

the moment matters (a reflection on life in the wake of the recent tragedy in aurora, co.)

often we live our lives as if they will never end. because of that illusion we procrastinate, or allow resentments to linger, or tell our children “not now”, or leave something that needs to be said for “another day”. how many of us have stood in front of a casket looking at a deceased loved one while thinking to ourselves – “i wish i would have told them...” or “i wish i had done...”.

when my father died in 1996 i experienced such a moment. so many things never said, so many questions never asked, so many hugs never given. now i can talk to him when i visit the cemetery, but the gravestone cannot respond nor hug.

every moment of our lives is an opportunity to live, or to simply exist. every moment of our lives is a chance to deepen relationships and share of ourselves, or simply a time to get by. lost in the illusion of the timelessness of our lives on earth, the moments pass, as do the opportunities each moment presents to us.

 paul wrote, “the time is now”. he was speaking about the time to enter relationship with Jesus, to know God’s love, to experience salvation. and he was right; the time is now to love God, and also to love one another. now is the only time we have to do it, to say it, to experience the fullness of life that is only found in relationship with the Source of life, and with the people God has brought into our lives. all our concerns about jobs and money and education and success are dust in the wind. the only thing that lasts is love, and the only time to experience love is now.

so as paul wrote “don’t let the sun set on your anger”. now is the time to heal the wounds, to share your love, to talk and laugh and cry and hug those by whom your heart is made whole. most especially, now is the time to come to know God in Christ. the moment, this moment, matters. embrace it and live.

© 2012 Halley Low

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