July 2010

Carpe Diem…

A friend and I were talking in my sunroom this gorgeous summer morning and we mutually agreed not to talk about the Gulf oil spill (because it’s so depressing) but of course, telling someone not to talk about something is telling someone not to think about pink elephants. And so my friend started to fill me in on some of the “untold” Gulf oil story. Saying basically that, even if it appears to be successfully capped, there could still be some major hidden problems (leaking beneath the ocean floor) and pressure could build up…possibly leading to some catastrophic explosion with consequences far worse than what the Gulf region is already experiencing.

Then, because the conversation was already depressing and going steadily downward, I pointed out (tongue in cheek) that potential calamity actually lurks everywhere—that is if we want to go looking for it. And I’m not saying we should bury our heads in the sand, but I am saying that sometimes it doesn’t do much good to obsess over things we have absolutely no control over. For instance, I told my friend, we might live in a very beautiful part of the world (seemingly exempt from disasters) but we have an active volcano nearby (one of our lovely Sisters mountains has a growing bulge of much geological interest) and we also have an earthen dam holding back a natural lake that could be broken by an earthquake, which would result in a catastrophic flood for our sweet little tourist town. So, even though we don’t live on the Gulf, it’s not like we’re sitting out of harm’s way here. I also pointed out that when we’re at the beach (she also has a place there) we’re smack in the center of a tsunami zone. We sometimes hear the testing of the tsunami warning systems (an alarming experience when you don’t know it’s just a test).

Really, I told my friend, if you think about it there’s no place on earth that’s completely safe…but maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe that’s God’s gentle but firm reminder that earthly life is meant to be temporary. We all have a limited number of days, we just don’t happen to know that number. And too often, especially in our culture, we assume we can use every age-reduction product available and extend our lives indefinitely. But we can’t live forever on earth. We just weren’t designed for it. And if we pay attention to nature, we get constant reminders that every living thing eventually comes to an end.

Of course, the good news is that God offers us life beyond this earthly experience. And while we can’t always wrap our heads around what the hereafter will be like, based on this beautiful world God created (and, yes, it has earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, and tsunamis) we can be assured that the next world will be incredibly amazing.

So, instead of fretting over which disaster will strike next (and surely there will be a next) I want to focus on the day right here, right now--especially since that’s all I have at the moment anyway. And I want to value this day like a rare jewel—and remember this day only comes once in a lifetime.

So here’s to living life bigger and loving others better and to trusting God more!

Blessings!

Melody

Samaritan’s Purse – http://www.samaritanspurse.org/

World Vision – http://www.worldvision.org/

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