Moments that Matter!

Today while I was taking my almost daily hike, I wondered how many moments in our lives actually matter? I took a trail I usually avoid, but I decided it was time to face my memories... this particular trail took me by the place where my ex and I exchanged rings, and where we snuck back into the park after it had closed and revisited the spot. There is also a set of stairs on that trail where I slipped and slid down the entire flight. That moment was six years later, the moment I realized my life must change, or else.... But today was a different day.

It occurred to me that life is like that path. It continually brings us around to people and situations that are different on the surface, and yet somehow, are essentially the same. It is a program deep within our souls, one that we are destined to resolve. When we pass this way again, will we have learned? Can we look at these new moments in our present and see them now with new eyes? Will we become embittered, blaming others, society, genetics, or an uncaring God? Or will we see them as opportunities to learn and to grow?

My friend Steph reminded me of a time in high school when she lost her father. The following Monday, she didn't want to be there so we played hookie and spent the day floating on the lake talking. My friend Bill remembers his first day of school and sitting with me on the bus. I can think of no greater honor than to be a part of a moment that was important enough to stick in another's memory. It reminds me that you just never know what moment in the present may turn out to to be one of the moments that matter.

Recently, I had the honor of sharing my mother's last breath. I shared one of my neice's first. There are people who have impacted me in ways that they will never know. And when I think of those instances, many were just that... an instant, that would probably seem insignificant to that person.

I've learned that of all the things in this world, there is nothing more important than this moment and the people who share it with us. Make each moment matter!

The Chasm

Once I saw an emptiness in your deep blue eyes and wanted to fill it.
But when I followed the emptiness into your broken heart,
I found a chasm that I could not cross.
Where you buried her, the flowers grew to full bloom.
When you buried me, I was yet alive,
And you wondered why I scratched and clawed.
My tomb is now open and abandoned, I am free at last...
But when I look back, I see no flowers, no mourners, no fanfare.
One cannot compete with the dead and still live.
Today I saw an emptiness in your deep blue eyes and wanted to fill it.
But now I know that no one can but you...