“In Lent, we are encouraged to care for the things which ultimately matter and leave behind those which inhibit our participation in the life of God and the life around us.”
Even Among These Rocks: A Spiritual Journey by Steven Purcell
I love social media. It connects me with people all over the world. But it’s easy to get addicted to that instant gratification of “likes.” It’s nice to be acknowledged. But it can keep me from the satisfaction of noticing life around my actual person.On Ash Wednesday, you walk up to the altar and the rector smudges ashes on your forehead in the shape of a cross. “From dust you came and to dust you shall return,” she tells you. It’s not to make you terrified or obsessed with death, but rather awaken you to the fact you are alive. Right now. And you won’t always be – not in your current build, to quote Dr. Ford in “Westworld.” I once heard a pastor say that the only place and time you can actually experience God is in the now. You can remember what God has done in the past or hope for what he might do in the future. But you can only apprehend God in the moment you’re in right now.
Remember, your body is going to die one day, no matter how much kale you eat. Quiet your mind and your soul. Then go out and experience God in the world, in others, in the now.
Actually some biogeneticists believe that aging is a disease they should have cured by 2020. So who would want to live anwhere but Heaven or the New Earth for eternity? No torture. No anguish. No shame. No tears. No depression. A
rich, deep beautiful life and very, very close to the Triune God.
Bob Rubin
artsandletters9
The older I get, the more loved ones who leave ahead of me, the more I feel that way, Bob. Thank you.