Three years on

Three years ago this morning, I sat by my beloved’s bedside in the hospice residence and read to her from the Gospel of Matthew, and after Jesus declared the two greatest commandments, I noticed she was no longer breathing. I glanced across the room at the clock; it was 7:20 a.m.

Something profoundly shifted inside me the moment Carol Jean died, a shift that had never occurred before when death visited my loved ones.

From that minute, I have wanted to tell people to savor every moment they can share with the people they love, especially their special someone.

I have wanted to scream at people who wish death on their enemies.

Having found another soulmate by a miracle of God, I have made a point to remind myself how precious our times together are. I try never to fail to tell her I love her.

All things pass; it’s a given. All lives end.

While life is, embrace it. Appreciate it, protect it, love it, live it, and worship the Creator who made it all.

The songwriter said, and I fully believe, “Only God has the right to decide who’s to live and die.” The day comes for all of us, and when it does, you will want to know you loved as much as you could, for as much of the time as you could.

And don’t you dare wish harm on another human being. What an arrogant waste of energy; what a contemptuous and contemptible way to treat the Creator’s work.

And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him: “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Three signs to point the way

And the sign on the wall still says, “Be silly sometimes.”

And the sign above it says, “Today only happens once — make it amazing.”

And there’s a third sign up ahead: “Simplify.”

Something motivated me to put those specific signs on my wall. And then I forgot they were there.

Clearly I wanted to remind myself to take advantage of every day God has given me.

I wanted to tell myself to look at the goofy side and not take myself so seriously.

And I wanted to coax myself into not making everything more complicated than it has to be.

Not the worst mission statement I’ve ever crafted. And there they are, hanging on the wall, same as they have for years. I need to pay attention better.

Mesmerization Anonymous

Summer was so cute Wednesday morning, I had to take her picture. The four snaps turned out so nicely, I had to post them on Facebook. Then I had to scroll around to see if there was anything interesting. Then it was 20 damn minutes later.

What makes us stare at the little TV screen in our pocket? What makes us keep tapping? Why do we slide our finger this way and that? What keeps us mesmerized? How are we hypnotized? Am I the only one who says out loud, “Why am I doing this?” even as I keep tapping and sliding and staring?

“Stop me before I scroll again!” a desperate man shouts, and all the zombies nearby raise their eyes for a moment. The man looks back at his screen and calms down, staring, and everyone goes back to their devices.

Maybe everything bizarre that has been happening in this world is because we’re all in a trance most of the time.