Sunday Counsel

This Saturday seemed so ordinary until it wasn't.

A friend lost her husband to a heart attack, and we are all reminded, that the time we have today may not be there tomorrow.  We spend minutes like water, spilling time everywhere and for no particular reason.  The most unreal of hard realities, where we discover the hard grace of our faith, is at the foot of the cross, whether for ourselves or witnessing through the great depth of feeling and pain of another. 

Food, hugs, prayer, presence, organization, everything feels so inadequate, because it is.  We cannot fill the hole left in the world by the absence of one who was deeply loved.  So today, do not seize the day, but hold the people in your day.  The day itself is not to be an accomplishment, a trophy for your memory, the people are.  Today, give your time to others who need to be fed, hugged, encouraged, played with, celebrated, healed, helped, listened to, watched, clothed, sung with and shared with, the activity is not relevant.  What will make today a memory to recall at the table 20 years from now, will be the astounding connection made by presence.  It is not easy, it is a grace we must receive and surrender.  

So take Sunday, and indeed, all the days of the week, and pour out your time lavishly on the people around you. Waste time with them, time you could be spending doing laundry or checking emails or reading blogs.  Because time is the only thing we have to give, and honestly, spending your time measured in paperwork and mated socks, is time lost with those who crave your time most of all. 

Pray for my friend and her family and remember to spend unstructured, undemanded time with those you value, because it is the gift that will be most remembered, when some Saturday in the future starts out ordinary, and then isn't.