It's too much. I don't think our coronary arteries could withstand looking at more than one day. There would be too much. Too many babies giggling, too many disappointed dreams, too many heartbreakingly beautiful sunsets. Any more than experiencing one moment at a time, and I think the stuff life's made of would do us in.
Oh, we try hard enough. We have planners and video cameras and things that help us capture the past and plan the future. Those can be useful tools for living, but sometimes, we get too caught up with trying to double up on life. Henry lives a moment at a time? Pfft, I'm going to live two moments at a time. I'm going to plan, worry, and prepare so perfectly that I'll really be living in two moments at once.
Balderdash. You can't do it.
I have moments when the stuff life's made of is almost too much, even moment by moment. It's as though the beauty of a Texas plains thunderstorm or the sound of a Beethoven concerto or the feeling of a deep sadness will split every cell I own. It's like I can't laugh hard enough or sing loud enough or be still long enough to satisfy the moment. I wonder what God feels like as He stands outside of time, seeing the tangled, bloody, beautiful mess of history and knowing the thoughts of every man at every moment.
He was there when the first jasmine bloomed. He understood Henry VIII's motives. He grieved for Pearl Harbor and for Nagasaki. He cheered for a girl as she laid a baby in a manger because there was no room for him in the inn. He laughed as the shepherds shook in their boots listening to the angel's instructions. He carefully calculated the timing of the Kings and the Christmas trio's escape to Egypt. He was there when your dog died. He'll be there when we have been forgotten.
He is forever. He is infinitely strong. He is Emmanuel, God with us.
Christmas is coming,
LMS
Oh, we try hard enough. We have planners and video cameras and things that help us capture the past and plan the future. Those can be useful tools for living, but sometimes, we get too caught up with trying to double up on life. Henry lives a moment at a time? Pfft, I'm going to live two moments at a time. I'm going to plan, worry, and prepare so perfectly that I'll really be living in two moments at once.
Balderdash. You can't do it.
I have moments when the stuff life's made of is almost too much, even moment by moment. It's as though the beauty of a Texas plains thunderstorm or the sound of a Beethoven concerto or the feeling of a deep sadness will split every cell I own. It's like I can't laugh hard enough or sing loud enough or be still long enough to satisfy the moment. I wonder what God feels like as He stands outside of time, seeing the tangled, bloody, beautiful mess of history and knowing the thoughts of every man at every moment.
He was there when the first jasmine bloomed. He understood Henry VIII's motives. He grieved for Pearl Harbor and for Nagasaki. He cheered for a girl as she laid a baby in a manger because there was no room for him in the inn. He laughed as the shepherds shook in their boots listening to the angel's instructions. He carefully calculated the timing of the Kings and the Christmas trio's escape to Egypt. He was there when your dog died. He'll be there when we have been forgotten.
He is forever. He is infinitely strong. He is Emmanuel, God with us.
Christmas is coming,
LMS
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