Big Fish

I think the big secret that God is trying to let me in on right now (if secrets are to be told) is that I need to value the contact I have with the people I'm with right now.

I've posted before that I've always felt like I'm waiting for something. It really sucks, because when you're constantly waiting for something to end/begin/whatever, then you don't really live at all. You're in the purgatory of life on earth.

I recently saw the movie Big Fish. I won't ruin it for you, but those of you who have seen it will know what I mean when I say that I came away realizing that we never "catch" the people we value the most in our lives. We enjoy their company, but eventually, you have to let them go. If we all lived with this conscious knowledge, we would treat people differently. We wouldn't hurry our kids off to bed so we can get a little more reading done in quiet. We wouldn't pretend to be listening to our spouses while we think about work/dinner/ministry/money/what's on television/my spiritual life/etc. We would realize the importance of the moment we're spending with that person. The same would be true for everyone else we came into contact with. It's a little exhausting to think about.

Then one of the teachers at the school I work at wrote a song. I don't remember it all, but the chapel band played it and it said something like this: "I didn't love you today, I don't know if I'll love you tomorrow, but I want to be with you right now."

Is one of the secrets to Christian living to live in the moment as much as possible?

We beat ourselves up about our past. We guilt ourselves into thinking we're not doing enough to become what we could be. God, forgive us of our sin of thinking so much about ourselves.

I wish I knew how this was done. I've never been taught how to live like this, and I think I need some guidance. Left to my own devices, I'll just keep waiting for my ship to come in until there's no time left, and all those relationships that I could have enjoyed are gone.
posted by Stephen at 11:08 PM | |