In This Moment

Our lives are sliced thin

moment by moment

memorable or not

some are wild and bombastic

some are calm and serene

many moments are mundane

others are life-changing

there will be celebrations

and there will be long stretches of routine

but

every moment counts

it all adds up to who you are

you are

a walking collection of moments

a human museum of experiences

you are

a concert hall filled with stirring strains

a theater echoing with laughter

a library of autobiographical anecdotes

you are

still under construction

but you have a design

and a destiny

and the stacks of moments

the slices of life

that are you

will just keep building

and who you are

in this moment

counts the most.

Emotion

Are humans actually capable

of being emotionless?

Perhaps

we can maintain

a modicum of control

of our outward appearances.

But

inside

the engine

keeps running,

the pistons

keep churning,

the fuel

keeps burning.

Our faces

usually

betray us.

The internal struggle,

the secret strain,

the pressing stress

become too much;

and

outward expressions

inevitably expose

the inward

swirl

of

emotion.

We are

emotion-full.

Emotion

is our

constant

companion.

The best

we can hope

is to learn

to recognize

and channel

our emotions

for the sake of

truth

and

inner peace.

So it is.

So may it ever be.

The Lamp of the Body

Matthew 6:22-34

The eye is the lamp of the body. 
If your vision is clear,

your whole body will be full of light.

But if your vision is poor, your whole body will be full of darkness. 

If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

No one can serve two masters:

Either he will hate the one and love the other,

or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.

You cannot serve both God and money.

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life,

what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.

Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?

Look at the birds of the air:

They do not sow or reap or gather into barns—

and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them.

Are you not much more valuable than they?

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

And why do you worry about clothes?

Consider how the lilies of the field grow: They do not labor or spin.

Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory

was adorned like one of these.

If that is how God clothes the grass of the field,

which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace,

will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

Therefore do not worry, saying, ’What shall we eat?’

or ’What shall we drink?’

or ’What shall we wear?’

These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, 

but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,

and all these things will be added unto you.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow,

for tomorrow will worry about itself.

Today has enough trouble of its own.

We Always Hope

We always hope

behind the smile

there is

true joy

or

at least

honest amusement.

We hope

the smile

is

not hiding

fear,

or anger,

or hatred,

or conspiracy.

Hope

is what

we cling to

so that

we will not

be overtaken

by

conspiracy,

hatred,

anger,

or fear.

We always hope

the smile

is hiding

nothing.

Structure and Chaos

Most days I feel like I am walking

inside a kaleidoscope -

or maybe a collide-o-scope.

Stimuli are coming at me from every direction.

I am being squeezed,

bombarded,

circled,

hemmed in,

exhilarated,

intimidated.

Mind-bogglingly exciting!

Colors and numbers and shapes and faces,

sights and sounds and smells,

textures and sensations

and revelations.

New experiences

mingling with

every variety

of memory,

from the mundane

to the delicious.

It is a whirlwind

and a whirlpool;

tossing me about

and drawing me in.

Not all of it sticks,

but some it does.

Those are the parts

that become me.

A Series of Reruns

Life is a series of reruns;

a boundless gallery of deja vu,

been there done that,

and also rans.

Yet,

every moment is new,

each step forward

is a vast expanse

filled with infinite possibility.

The same face

in the mirror every morning

is facing

new challenges

and opportunities

every day.

Be open to the newness

while you are cherishing

the familiar.

Inclinations

Studies have shown…

According to the leading experts…

Prevailing opinion insists…

The latest polls indicate…

My father always said…

The evidence declares…

Indisputably…

Without doubt…

We all keep some of our inclinations to ourselves.

That is because some of our inclinations seem to us to be

socially unacceptable, to put it nicely.

But I’d be willing to bet that my inclinations

are enough like your inclinations

that we would be surprised,

and possibly relieved,

with a strong lingering chance of embarrassment,

if we somehow discovered

that we shared similar inclinations.

Common human tendencies are what they are.

We keep them private and secret

in order to preserve a semblance of

dignity, maturity, sanity, humanity, and civilization.

We still all put our pants on
one leg at a time.

This is the great equalizing image of how most humans clothe themselves.

It is clean and mundane and true.

Meanwhile, our inclinations linger in the dark.