Thursday, August 22, 2019

Getting the Most out of Doomsday


You may have heard, the world is coming to an end. It's no surprise, really. It's been ending since the beginning, as far as I can tell. How many billions have lived their lives in fear of the end, only to close their eyes for the final time without seeing flaming horsemen?

My Grandfather used to talk a lot about the end of days. It terrified me. I had nightmares. I would dream about hellfire and the sky splitting open, waking in a cold sweat and gasping for breath. I'm not calling it trauma, every kid is afraid of the dark. My monster didn't hide under the bed, it was far bigger than that. 

Big as it was though, it taught me a lesson that shaped my view of life and all things. Whatever I fear, I turn to it and face it full on. I call it out. I yield to it. And then I observe that I still exist, and it loses it's power. Or maybe it consumes me.

Today is Doomsday. So was yesterday. I expect that tomorrow will be as well. I've lived with Doomsday personally for forty-five years. I still exist. I see that you do as well.


"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year. No man has learned anything rightly, until he knows that everyday is Doomsday."

"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year. He is rich who owns the day, and no-one owns the day who allows it to be invaded with fret and anxiety.

Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in. Forget them as soon as you can, tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely, with too high a spirit to be crushed with your old nonsense.

This new day is too dear, with its hopes and invitations, to waste a moment on the yesterdays." 

"There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment?" Ec 2:24-25




-Quotes from Ralph Waldo Emerson, Qoholeth, reflections from me.

Tuesday, August 13, 2019

On the First Day of School


My coffee came early again this morning as summer surrendered to this season known as back to school. I stand at the threshold of an unknown year to come. This summer has been so sweet and I've learned to savor each day, drinking up the warmth and the sunlight, filling my soul and adding a golden tint to my skin.

I've roamed continents and lived abroad, but the steady pace of time reigns as the grandest adventure I've ever faced. It's the steady tick of the clock, the constant ebb of the ocean, the rising of the sun that cannot be changed by the force of my will. The universe is vast. The universe is small.

The universe is vast like standing on the rim of the Grand Canyon. No camera can capture it's length. I feel pulled towards the chasm as the wind pushes against my face. The universe is small as I realize that what matters to me is larger than the expanse.

A cup of coffee, warm memories of the summer, and silhouettes in the morning light. My soul is here. Today I pause to recognize the moment.