Throughout the annals of time many questions have been asked concerning how we perceive life. What makes life happen, what causes us to behave in certain ways, deep thought questions that no one can really answer. Many theologians, philosophers, scientist, and astronomers have pondered, researched, and written their findings on this subject, only to leave us with more doubt than we began with. How do we perceive this time we all share called life? As best as I can tell, we all will have a certain amount of time on this place called Earth and when that time is done, well we will die; cease to exist or to be a little more candid go toes up. Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 says: To Everything there is a Season 1 There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven 2 A time to give birth and a time to die. Since no one knows when that appointed time is, what do we do to fill that space?
I married my high school sweetheart and have been blessed with two children, not kids but children, a daughter and a son. We struggled as most parents do to provide them with the necessary things they needed in life as well as some things that simply made them happy. We instructed, punished, nurtured, loved, and cried with them as they were growing up, the same as I am sure you, who are reading this article did. We tried to enjoy them even though the pressures of work and society inhabited our lives. We took them to church on Sundays, church day as my children would say vacations, ball games and other functions to ensure they were indoctrinated into areas of society to become good citizens. We taught them to be polite and use their manners when out in public places such as restaurants and movies, but most of all we encouraged them to view each day with a positive attitude and pleasantness. My children have grownup, married, working in their elected careers and have children of their own. I am pleased to see the values we instilled in them are now being taught to their children. What about life? When we get to the point that we see the end approaching at a more rapid pace, can we look back and smile knowing we lived all we could? Did we fulfill those dreams or live in those air castles that we ultimately built as we daydreamed of the future successes of life.
Each day when we throw our legs out of bed and stand on the floor of life, we all have the ability to determine our outlook on the day. Mine starts with a path to the coffee pot, the Mecca of java that jumps starts my day. After that first sip, I grope the table for the remote control that enables the god of technology to bring me the welcomed news of the deterioration of the world as we know it. The hungry children in third world countries, the band of terrorist who are upset because I don’t believe in the same god they do, or that sect of society that wants to change life simply because they think they are right, fills my space through the tube. I begin to think I have been sold a bill of goods about how life is good. I retreat to the kitchen for breakfast only to return to a newscaster telling me the national debt is rising and that hamburger meal I was considering for lunch has increased in price.
You buy what you want; life is not a bill of goods someone is selling. Life IS all that it is cracked up to be. In 1977 James Taylor wrote a song called “The Secret to life” the words struck me because the answer is directly in front of us. “The secret to life is enjoying the passage of time!” Isn’t that an awesome way to look at life, not rock science, but well really common sense. Too many times we keep a schedule that prevents us from enjoying anything. As I age and get closer to that time of extinction, I have begun looking back instead of forward at life as I have known it and I kind of like what I see. Yes I have tripped and stumped my toe a few times, I have had moments and events that I would do differently if I had a do-over. However, when I think about the life I have lived, the time spent with my family growing up, the love and trust in my young children’s face, and my grandchildren running to sit in my lap, I smile. I know that the Secret to Life is definitely enjoying the Passage of time!
Life Happens!
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