Every moment comes to us pregnant with a command from God, only to pass on a plunge into eternity, there to remain forever what we have made of it. Francis de Sales
A very odd day. One of those days that could be deleted from
one’s personal history and nothing would be lost. In short, a waste of 24
hours. (Well, I did teach my dad how to use YouTube. Whether that was time well
spent is debatable.) The lack of (legitimate) activity isn’t what made it
wasteful, though. Rather, it was the anticipation of something dreadful and the
stagnant anxiety that accompanied each hour from morning til night. The
compulsive checking of weather updates. How awful to live life, even a single
day, in fear of a future event that may or may not occur? How wasteful!
Contrast that to the season of waiting, Advent, when we carry hopeful
anticipation (not anxiety!) for something joyful that IS to come, that has been
promised to us! That kind of waiting, then, manifests itself in a joy-filled
witness to the world. In contrast, fearing what may come simply spreads fear.
Anxious waiting spreads anxiety. And for what? In this case, we endured a rain
storm- windy and loud, yes. But at least for those of us in 20171, power and
property remained in tact. Unnecessary worry. Useless fear. Wasted day.
But
what of those unfortunate folks who were hit? Even those who lost not just
property, but their lives in total? Some anxiety is good for us; it propels us
toward needed action. Many people took life-saving precautions out of fear of
damage, or even death. But once that’s done, sitting around fretting about
what’s to come isn’t going to change the timing, path, or intensity of an
impending storm (literal or figurative.) And it’s certainly not the way I’d
like to spend my last day here, if I knew it would be my last.
And that’s just
it: we know not the hour or the day. Which brings me back to the start of this
post. It’s sinful to wait in idle anxiety, to waste a day in fearful
anticipation of unpredictable and uncontrollable futures, as that wasted day
(Oct 29 in my case) might be your last. The 80+ lives stolen by Sandy remind us
of our right & responsibility as children of God: to live, our fullest,
best selves each and every day.
I want to be all used up when I die. George Bernard Shaw
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