So Much Vanishes and Passes - April 29
Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 50; PM Psalm [59, 60] or 114, 115; Wisdom 5:9-23; Col. 2:8-23; Luke 6:39-49
Yesterday, the family and I rolled up to the boat dock at 8:30 a.m. for a few hours of a guided fishing trip on our vacation. Captain Joe helped each of us down onto the boat and then he looked at me and asked a question he already knew the answer to. “Do you all want to go BIG or small?” I mean there is only one answer to that question! How do we ignore those beautiful large and golden 20 pound plus Redfish that have returned to spawn?
My children are nine and seven-years-old, so this was to mean all hands on deck. A few minutes after getting set, the reel was humming, and Jack was grabbing and screaming with the excitement of Christmas. Of course, this meant, that dad had to firmly plant himself behind him, holding the rod while he gave it his all to reel that fish in. The same methodology applied to my daughter as well.
Anne asked me later, “don’t you want to catch a fish?”
“I wouldn’t trade it for the world for those few minutes of chaos and joy!”
I’ve been thinking about those moments that memories are built upon. They pass too quickly. What is left in its place is a bond, hopefully, a deeper love and joy, but we cannot hold onto the experience forever. It comes and goes. Inevitably, we often chase it, but it cannot replace what we have experienced. But the true joy is what is left in its place, a sort of satisfaction and wonder that is birthed from a shared experience. It comes from the love that is shared in that moment.
We hear today a beautiful passage from the Book of Wisdom that reminds us that so much vanishes and passes. Things done and left undone will be no more. They will be “like a ship that sails through the billowy water, and when it has passed no trace can be found, no track of its keel in the waves; or as, when a bird flies through the air, no evidence of its passage is found; the light air, lashed by the beat of its pinions and pierced by the force of its rushing flight, is traversed by the movement of its wings, and afterward no sign of its coming is found there.” The Scripture is referring to the actions and words of an unrighteous person, but could that not apply to the temporal nature of our existence?
It’s a beautiful passage because it reminds us not to get wrapped up in the mistakes we have made, the errors, the ill, the things done and left undone. Instead, let’s go out and share love in a way that will last with us forever. “But the righteous for ever, and their reward is with the Lord; the Most High takes care of them.” Go love someone, be kind, help a stranger, lift up a person in need, help a child reel in a fish, and find the joy in the eternal nature of our ability to love each other.
Faithfully,
John+
Questions for Self-Reflection: Where have you experienced love and joy? Who are the people there in that moment? How did that love change you today?
Daily Challenge: Pick one thing you can do for someone else today that will bring you joy. Do it! Here are 25 ways if you need a start in brainstorming.