Sometimes they are the very same thing. Sometimes we give up the very thing we love because we love it.
We hurt. We cry. But we know that our love - our very act of loving - means we must let go.
My sister took her 18 year old cat to the vet tonight to have him put to sleep. The reasons were many, but the chief among them was her love for him. Loved him too much to let him die alone. Loved him too much to prolong his suffering. Loved him too much to be selfish for one more minute.
Letting go is never easy. It is our nature to hold all that we have and to hold it tight. Our grip can be smothering.
Opening our hands to free something -or someone - is the hardest thing we may ever do. But there is freedom there - for us, too.
Ultimately, the loves, the possessions, the things we call ours were never really ours to own, guard and jealously grip. They are here on loan. And our grip must be loose, the way we hold a tiny flower or china tea cup.
It is really our hearts that get to hold on tight to the memory of love and the warmth of living so long with the truth of life.
Some may think - it's just a cat. But love is love, big or small. Our hearts are filled with the stuff - if we let them be - and it flows out and over all we touch.
We will miss you, sweet furbaby. Go and sleep peacefully. Thank you for the memories.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
I will lift my eyes
Perspective is everything.
It can be skewed - like thinking your thumb is bigger than the moon just because you can blot it out of the evening sky with one eye closed. Or by closing one eye and pinching someone's head between your fingers from across a room.
We can focus so intently on the problems in front of us that they loom large, out of proportion - like that giant thumb you just discovered. And once we grow used to this, we no longer see a way around, over, or under them.
It may be a little problem, it may actually be a big problem. But add our fear and worry and intent stare (with one eye closed) and we are dwarfed by it.
A young man I knew took his life yesterday. Perhaps he told his family why. Perhaps he told no one why. But in his young mind, whatever the reason, he must have had one eye closed. He must have forgotten that if you open both eyes, the trick doesn't work anymore.
In Psalms 120:1-2, the writer says, "I will lift my eyes toward the mountains. Where will my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth."
Once we lift our eyes, we can see beyond, above, and past what lies before us. Now we are standing at the top of the Prudential building in Boston, looking down, and saying - they all look like little ants. Well, that's just not so bad.
Be careful how you are looking at your world. Make sure - are both eyes open? Lift them up and see, with clarity, how big our Lord is.
dedicated to Jes Smith. I will miss you while on this earth. I loved you, son.
It can be skewed - like thinking your thumb is bigger than the moon just because you can blot it out of the evening sky with one eye closed. Or by closing one eye and pinching someone's head between your fingers from across a room.
We can focus so intently on the problems in front of us that they loom large, out of proportion - like that giant thumb you just discovered. And once we grow used to this, we no longer see a way around, over, or under them.
It may be a little problem, it may actually be a big problem. But add our fear and worry and intent stare (with one eye closed) and we are dwarfed by it.
A young man I knew took his life yesterday. Perhaps he told his family why. Perhaps he told no one why. But in his young mind, whatever the reason, he must have had one eye closed. He must have forgotten that if you open both eyes, the trick doesn't work anymore.
In Psalms 120:1-2, the writer says, "I will lift my eyes toward the mountains. Where will my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth."
Once we lift our eyes, we can see beyond, above, and past what lies before us. Now we are standing at the top of the Prudential building in Boston, looking down, and saying - they all look like little ants. Well, that's just not so bad.
Be careful how you are looking at your world. Make sure - are both eyes open? Lift them up and see, with clarity, how big our Lord is.
dedicated to Jes Smith. I will miss you while on this earth. I loved you, son.
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