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Recognizing the Preciousness in Challenging Times

“Where are we going? Do not ask! Ascend, descend. There is no beginning and no end. Only this present moment exists, full of bitterness, full of sweetness, and I rejoice in it all.”

~Nikos Kazantzakis – The Saviors of God

I am feeling so deeply blessed to be alive in the middle of this lifetime. How many tens of thousands of direct ancestors of mine had to toil, struggle, endure and love in order to bring this existence of mine into being, infused with such deep appreciation. Yet this is difficult terrain to traverse – writing about the blessings and the preciousness of a life juxtaposed with our struggles for racial equality, people suffering from the COVID pandemic and the reality that so many on this earth have minimal opportunity to live lives fully enabled to recognize and cherish that preciousness.

I believe that what I write here has merit, yet it is a privileged perspective which has the ease from which to express these thoughts. Whether it be from discrimination, incarceration, poverty, oppression, war, forced servitude, mental health issues, disability or from the overwhelming everyday challenges to simple survival, it can be much more difficult for many among us to come into direct experiential contact with the blessedness of this life. This awareness of these struggles seems to underscore the sense of blessedness I have. The more rare something is, the more dear it becomes and the more a holy sense of reverence seems to naturally arise.

I feel so blessed in many ways because I’ve come to a place in life where I’m much better at taking things in stride. I do my best to be clear and true with whatever life presents. I don’t fight much with reality any more. Work to change the outside world and my inner world for the better? Definitely. Quarrel with reality as it is? Not so much. And just to be clear, just because I don’t fight so much with reality doesn’t mean an acceptance that things aren’t worth changing.

No matter how much we may think we can control the outside world, life simply unfolds as it does. In the process all we can do is to do our best to align ourselves with the flow of existence, and make the most of the opportunities we have. Opportunities to work toward justice and change in the world, opportunities to be of service, opportunities to create, opportunities to grow, opportunities to experience the joys and pleasures of life, opportunities to love are truly here only for a limited time, and then at some point they’re gone.

Poof.

Kinda just like that.

And not only opportunities, but life itself is here and then it’s gone. One wrong turn, one dire diagnosis, one unforeseen accident and it can all be over. Even if by some unseen grace we are able to dodge these obstacles, our lives do naturally draw to a close. One of my recent ancestors, my grandfather Max, lived to be 97, but he’d be over 120 years old were he alive today. That kind of longevity just doesn’t happen with humans. The years of our lives are finite. No matter how hard we may wish it were otherwise, what we have and what we are will come to an end, yet we so often treat our time, our precious life energy as if it emerges endlessly from a mountain spring.

This is the earnest work. Each of us is given only so many mornings to do it – to look around and love.

Mary Oliver

I’m touched at this time too because I’ve been spending time with family including my brothers, both of whom have been struggling with health issues. My brother Jeff has been declining. Such a kind and dear man he is. Even with his current limited capacities he strikes me as content and grateful. We sat together on his deck in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan overlooking the beautiful Menomonie River the other day for about five hours. Just sitting there. It was a day he wasn’t talking much, other than an occasional word at a time. I played guitar and sang for him and he occasionally bobbed his head in time to the music. The love between us is so very simple and genuine. It was one of those perfect kind of days, where time doesn’t matter and simply being is all that is required.

About 8 months ago, I asked my father some questions about sailing and told him it was crossing my mind to get a sailboat someday. He and his wife spent many beautiful years cobbling together a living on a sailboat while celebrating their lives with the freedoms that the merging of breeze, love, canvas and keel provides. He mentioned my van and said something interesting: “You can always go ‘vanning’ when you get older, but you can’t always go sailing.” And he’s right. As we age, our physical capacities become less. Along with that comes a decreased ability to pursue dreams that require stronger physical capacities. I mention this simply to say that this “precious life energy” I am referring to is something fleeting. It’s not just the lifetime we are granted, but the vibrancy of capacity within it which is also limited and fleeting.

In addition, future generations may very well inherit a planet so polluted and overheated that basic survival, let alone enjoyment, may be of great challenge or well-nigh impossible. If the Coronavirus has taught us anything, it should be that everything we know to be true can change in an instant. Not only is there a preciousness of energy/capacity/time in our own lives, but the same can be said for the energy/capacity/time of the earth and it’s ability to sustain the preciousness of human and other life forms that exist.

And so here we are, smack dab in the centers of our own lives. While civilization (can we really use that word any more?) may well be painting itself into the corner of it’s own demise, perhaps that recognition can offer all the more reason to try to find the beauty which is here right now. Remember, the tea cup you may cherish is already broken, it just hasn’t been dropped yet. Perhaps we can bring the teacup of our lives to our lips to sip with true appreciation whatever blessings and preciousness we may have while they’re still here.

Image by Natalia Koroshchenko from Pixabay

9 replies on “Recognizing the Preciousness in Challenging Times”

Thanks for this. I don’t know if you remember me; we were introduced by Karen Novak at a sweet fireside concert at the Mendocino Grove campground last year. Well, since then I’ve lost my stepmom of 44 years and my dad in quick succession. I woke this morning to a message from my sister sharing tender memories of Beach Boys concert we shared with our dad a few years back. Thru contacts she was able to bring my dad backstage, which was a dream come true for him. It was a shared night of joy for us as a family certainly, but did I REALLY appreciate it????? Remembering it this morning, a prayer formed in me that I may strive to be aware that every moment of my life has the potential to be magical, that I may appreciate my life more fully. It’s tricky stuff to articulate. Then I opened my email and your blog was there., saying it beautifully for me. So thanks.
Beth

Hi Beth, I remember that concert. “The (?) Sarah’s.”

Yes, it’s always a practice to appreciate our lives. The content of our lives isn’t always so easy to change but how we respond to it is always negotiable. Hope you’re doing well.

Wow Ted oh, there is true spiritual connection here. You are always thought provoking when I’m feeling my most down. I thank you so much for this piece. Because bitterness started to build up in my heart especially after Jacob Blake unnecessary killing. It was just like one more killing too much. But now I know that this is an agenda of the Edomites, the talebearers, the scorned! I happen to be going through my Bible comfort oh, and I came across to versus out of the clear blue. Proverbs 22:10 and proverbs 26:20. Out of the Clear Blue Sky I open my book and there it was. The division of America is by Design. We are a strong country and other countries are tired of it. They want us to be a communist country. There are different secret societies going on and I do a lot of studying research. I am not going to bend 2 this evil political agenda. Reading your literature this morning, changed my whole attitude. Love overpowers everything. The luxury to be in a physical place to receive this such as yourself and your family is Way Beyond me unfortunately, but I believe I can find it’s someplace like just where I’m at. Thank you so much Ted. I love you I hope you and your family stay well. I continued to pray for you and your brother, as well as your whole family. I hope someday we can have breakfast lunch for dinner and discussion with love. Be safe and stay healthy and thank you again for this beautiful read, which brought me back to God and love.

I apologize for the typos as I am in a place where I can’t type so I am using voice activator. And sometimes these smartphones are very dumb lol but I think you got the gist of what I’m trying to say.

And if you could not quite understand you have my email address my Facebook address in my messenger address where we can even do video chat and we can discuss it then.

Just a big thank you. I needed it in these troubling times. It
s easy to be pulled in many directions and your words brought me back to center and grounded me. God bless you and your family.

Thank you Kay. When one finds their center, they help center the world a little more on its core axis. Blessings to you. Much appreciated.

Once again, deep appreciation for your expression that beats the same rhythm of my heart these days. Simplicity, presence unfolding beauty, feeling all my feelings yet not grasping, offering what I can while taking care of needs, paying attention and continually letting go. As I unpack boxes placing art on the walls, pieces in the China cabinet I wonder what for? Attachments may touch my heart yet they utilize energy that seems to belong to the past. Could I really just release it without bodily death. Sure I love things along yet the questions remain. How much service could I offer if I didn’t have stuff to take care of including a house and yard? Much love for the journey, all the journeys of my life….and you and yours. All Our Relations

Beautiful Gwen. Your comment reads like poetry to me. Touching me at a level much deeper than the words themselves. Blessings…

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