Is anyone else feeling nostalgic or sentimental as the school year quickly fades away? Wasn’t it just yesterday that the school year started? Or just last week that my baby began kindergarten? Yet here she is, about to graduate and embark on a grand new adventure.
The older I get, the more I realize that everything slips too quickly from our grasp, and I am led to wonder how can I make it stop? How can I slow down time? How can I make sure I don’t miss a thing? I once read something by Bishop Robert Barron in which he said, “An image that always comes to mind when I think of these things is the gorgeous firework that bursts open like a giant flower and then, in the twinkling of an eye, is gone forever. Everything is haunted by nonbeing.” Yet this is not necessarily a bad thing, this reminder that all things fall into nonbeing. It can be a truly good and wonderful thing.
But how? How can thinking about this nonbeing be a blessing?
Here’s how…
What is it that we appreciate about a sunrise? Is it the beauty? The reminder of God’s promise of a new day? The knowledge that it will happen again tomorrow and the next day and the next day? Or is it something more? Could it be that we long for that brief moment in time when all is good and peaceful in the world? Perhaps the sunrise happens the way it does–every morning at a known time but each occurrence unique–because we are meant to marvel at the sight for just those few minutes before it becomes mundane, just another sunny day. Don’t we all long for that tiny bit of time when everything around us is quiet and still and breathtaking?
We live in a world where everything moves quickly. Our days speed by in a flash of commotion, and we are left trying to catch our breath, wondering how it could all be over so fast. We forget that, in all things, there can be found a moment of peace. We don’t even look for it or think about, and when the event, or the day, or the year, or life has come to an end, we wonder if that elusive pause ever happened at all. How did my baby become an 18-year-old adult? How have I been married for over twenty-five years? How can my father be 82?
Yet if we stop and close our eyes, and allow the world to become quiet, we can see all of the things that brought us to where we are. We can remember the pauses–the peace, quiet, stillness, and breathtaking moments. We spend each day working, running from here to there, always trying to stay one step ahead of something or someone, and we long for respite. Luckily, we can find it! As we read in Psalms, “In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat— for he grants sleep to those he loves” (Psalms 127:2).
All of the chaos, all of the toiling, this race we constantly find ourselves in will come to and end, as all things do. When we reach our Heavenly reward, we will finally be able to rest. But do we really have to wait until then? I don’t believe so.
And that brings me to the blessing of the nonbeing, the nonbeing that we must accept here and now and find a way to make it mean something so that it doesn’t have to result in nothing. How?
We can take a pause in the morning or evening to marvel at the sunrise or the sunset.
We can ooh and aah at a fireworks display.
We can hold that newborn, kiss her sweet-smelling forehead, and take in the scent of her newness.
We can celebrate every milestone, every birthday, graduation, anniversary, new job, or new adventure.
We can remind ourselves every day that we are to look for those precious moments of peace and savor them.
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What I was writing about a year ago this week: The Rhythm of Life.
Amy Schisler is an award-winning author of both children’s books and sweet, faith-filled romance novels for readers of all ages. She lives with her husband and three daughters on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Her books, Picture Me, Whispering Vines, and Island of Miracles are all recipients of Illumination Awards, placing them among the top inspirational fiction books of 2015, 2016, and 2017. Whispering Vines was awarded the 2017 LYRA Award for the best romance of 2016. Island of Miracles has outsold all of Amy’s other books worldwide and ranked as high as 600 on Amazon. Her follow up, Island of Promise is a reader favorite. Amy’s children’s book is The Greatest Gift. The suspense novel, Summer’s Squall, and all of Amy’s books, can be found online and in stores. Her latest novel, Island of Promise, was recently awarded First Prize by the Oklahoma Romance Writer’s Association as the best Inspirational Romance of 2018 and was awarded a Gold Medal in the Independent Publisher Book Awards 2019 for Inspirational Fiction.
Amy’s latest book, The Devil’s Fortune, is now available! Order your copy today.
You may follow Amy on Facebook at http://facebook.com/amyschislerauthor, Twitter @AmySchislerAuth, Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/amyschisler and at http://amyschislerauthor.com.
Amy’s books: Crabbing With Granddad (2013), A Place to Call Home (2014), Picture Me (2015), Whispering Vines (2016), Island of Miracles (2017), Stations of the Cross Meditations for Moms (2017), The Greatest Gift (2017), Summer’s Squall (2017), Island of Promise (2018).
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