Monday, May 15, 2006

take delight

I completely disagree with the statement, "live every day as if it's your last." (Or, "eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you die," to borrow from Solomon.)

If that were the mantra by which I lived, I would most certainly be very fat and very broke, very quickly.

Rather, I think we should live each day as if it's our first-- being open to growth and learning, being conscience to take care of our bodies, and by being delighted to be here.

Mike likes to remind me, particuarly while I'm driving (hey--I think of myself as a GOOD driver. I've never gotten any tickets, or been in an accident. And no, a runaway dump truck tire hurtling across I-20 and damaging my vehicle does NOT count as an accident. That was a freak of nature.) that "we could die at any moment."

I guess that's true. But when you're born, or in the case of Christ, reborn, it seems like death would be the last thing on your mind. In Little Women (at least the movie with Winona Ryder [where'd she go anyway?!], sadly I've never read the book), Jo (or is it Marmie?) quotes de Bible, and even though I'd read it before, somehow coming from the lips of a celebrity, it managed to strike me in a different way. "We're being transformed by the renewing of our minds."

Transformational. Renewal. The very mind of Christ. Live the first day every day. Take delight in your life.

Sounds lovely, right?

Then why, oh why, is it so hard?

I am reminded of the lowly little caterpillar, crawling around, perhaps on your car or windowsill, living his caterpillar life. Then, for whatever reason, instinct I guess, he spins his cocoon. And when the time is right, he emerges, transformed, a new creation.

I'm still relating more to the time spent inside that cocoon (of my own making, just like good ol' furry crawler). I'm stuck there. I wonder how many caterpillars don't turn into what they're supposed to, how many of them become mutants who make the insect world cringe instead of admire when they squirm by?

Okay, so maybe I'm taking this metaphor a little too far. I guess I'm just longing for this transformation and renewal to feel like a reality. I know feelings aren't everthing, but in this case, it would be nice.

I want to take delight. It's the only way to live.

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Introspection can be a very misleading practice.

Imagine if you had a microscope that had infinite magnification capability, and all day you just kept looking deeper and deeper into what you were studying (i.e: your spiritual condition).
It would be an exhausting, although sometimes interesting, never ending pursuit.

I believe that, while it is healthy to be aware of our "normal" state of being, the the Spiritual life is one that requires believeing in things that we just cannot see.

It involves becoming convinced of truth that is unbelievable.

It requires taking great leaps of faith when you haven't got a leg to stand on.

It insists that your lifes circumstances keep you pressed between a Rock and a hard place.

Sister, you may not see how the Lord is conforming you into the image of His Son, but I do.

You radiate the Spirit of the Christ.

9:27 AM  
Blogger Jenny said...

That's so cool. I never would have even thought to disagree with that statement.. but you have definitely turned it on its head.

Maybe we could live each day like it is the first AND the last? Maybe that doesn't work. Hmm. Not sure.

5:04 PM  

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