Life is Precious are the words that led off last month's message.
This month, my starting words are, Life is Interesting.
I'll do my best to be more creative next month... but with that said, minimally, life really is interesting!
It's also amazing, challenging, beyond wonderful, miraculous, at times sadly painful and even horrifying. Much of this wide range of describing life is absolutely in our direct control and much of it absolutely is not.
Right here lies one of life's most important areas of learning: what actually is in our control and what is not? Pause for a moment and catch your breath. This could be the most important question we ever get to ponder. The answer determines how much inner peace we'll be able to achieve. As I often do, I am inviting you to enter into a zone that transcends day-to-day logic. Life is so far beyond interesting, it's incredible.
So little of our lives is in our control, it's crazy. We are almost entirely dependent upon things way beyond our control. At the same time, we have so much command of how we view and participate in our world, it transcends the miraculous. We are dust in the wind and at the very same moment we have the capacity, and the responsibility, to be amazingly important and influential.
Remember the great song, "Dust in the Wind," sung by Kansas and inspired by a Native American poem?
Now, don't hang on
Nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky
Dust in the wind.
All we are is dust in the wind.
And this seemingly oppositional one, "I'm Amazing," written and sung by Keb' Mo':
I'm amazing, I'm incredible,
I'm a miracle, a dream come true
I'm marvelous; I'm beautiful
Guess what?
So are you.
Could it be that these two, clearly antithetical descriptions of you and me are true?
Some would say, "No way!" In our earthly, linear realm, these two descriptions contradict one another. How could I be amazing and incredible, but also just dust in wind?
Others would say, "Yes. Absolutely!" We live in a world that transcends contradiction. In fact, our world embraces and is built upon paradox. Logic matters, but it is not remotely our ultimate truth.
You are dust in the wind and you are also amazing. Get used to it, if you haven't already. It takes practice.
This morning, I awoke, as I often seem to do these days, quite a bit off. Negative thoughts were booming around my brain even after reciting my morning gratitude prayer. This morning I felt like tiny dust in an endless wind.
Wendy and I usually take our two grandchildren, Livi and Lyza, to school in the morning. We live just a 20-second hop-skip-and-a-jump down the hill from them. Wendy's back was killing her so she stayed home. I inherited the coveted solo "bus driver" job today and welcomed the little ones into my waiting arms.
Update: my toxic mental monsters seemed to have taken a break as the three of us hugged, buckled up and headed off to school. As usual, my seemingly "miserable" morning was getting better. Where did those tenacious little devils go, anyway? The first question I ask prior to putting the car into drive is, "Where would you like to go this morning?"
They answer in unison, "To school!" They giggle and off we go.
Lyza started out singing, and Livi and I joined in:
I've been working on the railroad,
All the live long day.
I've been working on the railroad,
Just to pass the time away.
Can't you hear the whistle blowing?
Rise up early in the morn.
Can't you hear the captain shouting?
Dinah, blow your horn!"...
We finished the railroad song after a few repetitions and then moved on to this classic:
O beautiful for spacious skies
For amber waves of grain
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea.
We arrived at school a few minutes before 7:30, shared some low-fives, said "I love you" and went on our separate ways. From early morning painful dust in the wind, all the way to an amazing, joyful ride to school.
I am amazing, and so are you!
Blessings. ...
- Burt Gershater is a counselor, leadership trainer, speaker and writer. He can be reached at [email protected]
