On a recent vacation, I got to thinking, as I am wont to do. We sat in the same room for several days in Victoria, BC, Canada. I grabbed the corner of the couch as my lookout place and spent hours gazing into the little harbor below us. I’ve snapped photos in every lighting situation available and with every change of wind and rain. Then I thought about which one was the best and which would I spend money on an enlarged print to hang in my office. Or sell.
I could not choose! Each snapshot represented a sliver of meaning, a momentary glimpse into the life that fleets on by.
Every photo was taken for a reason. Every sliver of change had something I wanted to capture and record. It’s almost like thinking back over the 45+ years I’ve known my bride. Which time period was the best? Of course, you normally think of your more able time of activity and happiness, but that would not be the true picture I would want hanging in my office. Why? Even in the slivers of time that were not the best experience, they were still important because they revealed something not previously considered.
How do you choose between one and the other? Every sliver of life…is important! It’s important because it builds and reveals our outlook.
Every sliver of life, no matter how much struggle, angst, or joy, reflects a precious view of time spent enjoying or agonizing over something. Each sliver is a building block! Click To TweetTake the dock photo. Last night, and though no picture could do it justice, we saw someone grilling on their boat deck. It has been threatening rain all day, but when you constantly live in the shadow of potential wetness, then what’s a little rain to slow down your cooking plans?!
Yesterday, a single-masted sailboat slipped out of the harbor early and headed for a day of enjoyment! Sometime overnight, it reappeared. I see it right now! They made it home safely. Then, I started thinking about their adventure, even if it was a mundane passage of time. The time spent was important.
There’s a water taxi that’s so popular around here…parked in an overnight slot just waiting for “Gentlemen, Start your engines!” I have yet to see it park or depart. But it’s not always there! Except at night. Days over and done, home to rest, waiting for the next opportunity to serve.
Over the few nights of our stay, we played Crying Rummy with my SIL, and she did excellent, winning two nights of the competition. But she’s no different than any of us who lose a hand. “Oh, no!” (pardon her French translation), and she would agonize over what to do next. I should have done this; maybe that would have been a better choice. The French get a lot of credit for the language they probably do not even know! French this! French that!
This has placed me in a time and place of pondering. Why do we get so upset with a sliver of time that is not exactly perfect and fail to recognize that this is simply life?
For example, Driving home, I may come upon an accident, construction, or heavy traffic, so make an adjustment and go a different way. That’s life! We struggle through some bad and sad scenarios, ups and downs, forward motion, and slip-sliding backward. Deal with it! That’s Life!
Through it all, I’ve learned something. It’s not about the moment of stress or anguish that’s a real problem. It’s how we pace ourselves through life, so the entire journey ends out with a backward look of satisfaction. Like Paul said in his closing remarks to Timothy:
“I have fought a good fight,
I have finished my course,
I have kept the faith:”
2 Timothy 4:7 KJV
Okay… He may talk about every sliver of time in his past, and how he existed through it all, you know… The Good. The Bad. And the downright Ugly. Sure, there were good times interspersed with the bad.
But that’s life!
It’s not a “box of chocolates” with wonderment about what’s inside each bite. Rather, the “whole ball of wax” says, “I’m content with what has happened to bring me to this point!”
What’s next? Look at Paul’s next verse, and he’ll tell you… Henceforth…or in the vernacular of our day, “from this point forward” as in, from this point of time and looking forward to the future…
“Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness,
which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day:
and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”
2 Timothy 4:8 KJV
After everything has been said and done, there is a reward that we have yet to experience!
If you struggle with every sliver of change and agonize, whether it’s good or bad, you will end your race with many stress-induced ailments. Life is to be lived through the high points as well as the low points.
Life is not constant! There are ups and downs! Learning to stay in control of yourself is the key. When storms come, persevere through. When uneven events show up, learn how to climb up and out or down and through! Regardless, you do not throw your hands up in despair and give up the race!
All of your training has brought you to this sliver of time. It may be different than the previous slivers and substantially different than the slivers to come. Regardless. How you live through it will make all the difference in the world.
And many are watching to see how you succeed or fail. Let’s be a good teacher!
Thank you for reading.
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It helps me get my book written!