When we look at our day to day lives, it would be easy to conclude that there is a mundane rhythm to it. We can see the getting up and moving about the expected tasks each day. Days off work are often filled with chores and errands interspersed with a few opportunities for true relaxation.
Another way to think about it, is not the routine, but what we bring to the equation and then take from the experiences. Life is never about the goods accumulated, the titles gathered, the souvenirs bought or the number of stamps in the passport. These become true detritus as they are left behind. You will not be truly remembered for anything you gathered but rather for the quality of the relationships that you have built up - and even then - it is what you offered in the relationship that becomes the measure.
The Canadian painter, Mary Pratt, observed in an interview with Michael Enright, people who make a big fuss usually don't amount to much because it takes too much energy to make the fuss. People who do so are not focused on the relationships they build but rather on the ego.
We are all walking towards death. When it comes, who knows. Each moment you have the choice of what you will leave this life - will it be a moment of love, anger, joy, compassion, harm, assault? It is the last step that is your most recent moment to impact those around you. Pope John XXIII observed,
© Peter Choate, 2016
Another way to think about it, is not the routine, but what we bring to the equation and then take from the experiences. Life is never about the goods accumulated, the titles gathered, the souvenirs bought or the number of stamps in the passport. These become true detritus as they are left behind. You will not be truly remembered for anything you gathered but rather for the quality of the relationships that you have built up - and even then - it is what you offered in the relationship that becomes the measure.
The Canadian painter, Mary Pratt, observed in an interview with Michael Enright, people who make a big fuss usually don't amount to much because it takes too much energy to make the fuss. People who do so are not focused on the relationships they build but rather on the ego.
We are all walking towards death. When it comes, who knows. Each moment you have the choice of what you will leave this life - will it be a moment of love, anger, joy, compassion, harm, assault? It is the last step that is your most recent moment to impact those around you. Pope John XXIII observed,
"I am able to follow my own death, step by step. Now I move softly towards the end."
Meditation in the moment allows us to decide what the next step will be. Thus, if it is our last step, then we have chosen it consciously. Or, will we have moved with habit not considering the impact?
He reached out to touch her
moving his had gently across her cheek
smiling into her eyes he shared his joy
She recalled this touch
it was the one that her father and grandfather made
when she was just a girl
She felt the love
travel across the generations
she was safe
It has thus always been so for her
she wonders why not for others
she asks what hate could cause intentional harm
Neither know the answer
for both caress the souls of the other
as a sacred duty
Should death arrive today
the other will fall with grief
but take the next step with love
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