Sacred Moments

June 28, 2007 - Thursday                  

Current mood:  tired

Category: Religion and Philosophy

I've noticed that most of my thinking in my little world is often drawn like a magnetic pull back to...me. That's right, me, myself, and I. Not too hard to do. After all, I don't have a chance at figuring out what's going on in politics or theological debates or even how to fix my friends' problems. But somehow, I think, if I devote enough mental time and emotional energy to solving my own problems, maybe I will end up somewhat productive at the end of the day. Unfortunately, it usually doesn't quite work that way.

But thankfully, every now and then, my day is interrupted with what I like to call "sacred moments." These are the kind that poke me out of my little "me-zone." The kind that I wish I could capture on film, or in a painting or a song. Can ordinary words really capture their beauty? Rarely. It seems that only being there at that exact moment in time can really do them justice.

Today I sat and talked with a lady suffering from muscular dystrophy that I used to work for. Her positive spirit and complete trust in God in the face of death is humbling and inspiring. During our visit, a neighbor dropped by--an 80-ish-year-old man, sweaty and covered in cut grass from his lawn-mowing expedition beyond the fence. He ended his visit by sharing a special story about a girl "who wouldn't quit." A little girl with leg braces, that could never run as fast as the other kids could during their breaks at their small, country school. But she rounded the school yard each day with the others, and though she always lagged far behind the rest, she finished. "Now," the old man wrapped up his tale, "she's a grandmother, and lives on the other side of the river. She doesn't have to wear the leg braces any more. But I'll always remember her as the girl who wouldn't quit." It was a sacred moment.

Sacred moments can happen at Walmart, watching a dad calm down his cranky kid; in the forest, almost stepping on a box turtle in the middle of the wet path; in a moth-ball-smelling home, with a couple more in love after 60 years together than ever before. It can happen in song service, with that one song that says exactly what is in my heart; in the Bible verse that seems to be God's voice directly telling me that it's all going to be ok.

I wish everyone an abundance of sacred moments. Not too many, or they won't be special. But enough to break through our selfish bubbles, and wake us up to the reality of our God and His graceful work all around us.

11:20 PM