Every year, between Christmas and New Years, I get a little philosophical. Well, okay, a LOT philosophical. I think it's because at that time of year we come to a sort of crossroads where the past, present, and future pass so near each other that we become ultra aware of the passage of time.
Here at this crossroads, we come to realize the affect that the past has had on us. We remember it, cherish some of it, and choose to leave some of it behind, but always, we are affected by the things that have happened to us. Always in the present, we take a peek at the possibilities of the future. What will it hold? How will I live in the new future that lies ahead?
We spent breakfast yesterday thinking about the future in terms of technology. I was envisioning that someday we would have a wall panel built into each home that had everything--TV, movies, games, video phone, internet, even home alarm systems. Everything available in one place. How would our lives change with such a world? Would we live better or would we just be distracted from reality?
Already we spend much of our time immersed in fiction. We call it entertainment, but it is a distraction that at times keeps us from living in reality. It hampers our ability to focus on living well by loving others and God. I find myself going to it during this time to feed my soul, but it is without life. It is a bandaid on the soul.
On Christmas Eve, we went to a real church service. We sat in the balcony because it was so full. We stood to sing Christmas songs in honor of a baby born in Bethlehem, and I lifted my voice and let it ring out into the rafters of that church. It was a glorious moment of living in the present and perhaps a different form of entertainment altogether. I watched a family sitting in front of me. Three generations of men attending their church together. The bored seven year old boy, the comfortable father, and the aged grandfather seemed to me to represent the coming together of the past, present, and future.
All three were coming together for one reason--the worship of God. God. The one being who is Eternal. Alpha and Omega. No constraint of time and space, but only Pure Love, Pure Spirit. A thousand years are but a moment to Him. As humans, we are very aware of our short time here, but we try to escape from that awareness. We must secretly long to be surrounded by Pure Love beyond the prison of time and space.
Our one connection to eternity is God, and yet, we distract ourselves from Him in so many ways. If you're like me, tonight you may be watching the ball drop in Times Square on a lifeless screen--a screen with no warmth to offer. Perhaps instead we should be worshipping our God and thanking Him for the glimpse of eternity that we have had in the past and that we have yet to experience. Each glimpse we have of eternity is a gift of Hope to a world that builds lifeless screens of distraction, and yes, the irony is that without the lifeless screen that I am currently typing into, you would never be able to get philosophical with me today.
Have a wonderful and blessed New Year. Don't be distracted from the God who gave us life and Hope that is Eternal.
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