[Video of the wide sweep of the Pacific at San Gregorio State Beach, an astonishing number of pelicans and other birds, and my husband, wrapped from head to toe do he doesn’t accidentally absorb any vitamin D.]
What do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. God has made everything beautiful in its time. She has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
Ecclesiastes 3:9-11
This is not another think-piece or homily or listicle about “what to do next” now that Trump Season 2 is ready for binge-watching. Those are all important, and if you want one of those, I’d recommend this one (all 3 in one) from the always wonder-full Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg.
As far as I’m concerned, what today means is that we are one step closer to January 20, 2029. One step closer to whatever comes after. And one step closer to eternity.
I have my eyes set on eternal life today. Eternal life means not just whatever may happen when we shuffle off this mortal coil. It’s not just length of life, it’s BREADTH of life. The current vastness of this exquisite human chapter that has been gifted to our souls.
The bodies (not always cooperative, but always interesting!) entrusted to us
the family and framily and colleagues and mentors
the tastes smells soundscapes
the 3-minute dance parties and sweaty muscle-building workouts
the 360-degree mountaintop spins and glassy-eyed meditations on endless ocean
the perfect piece of buttered toast and impromptu dinner parties with too many hors d’oeuvres and lots of cackling
the pup snuggles and cat cuddles and the kids who hurl themselves into our arms
the feeling of sinking into the pillow at bedtime, with a prayer of gratitude on our lips
All the wild and wide life-things that might just be part of your specific life *right this moment.*
You already have eternal life, right now, no matter what the powers and principalities are up to. No matter how you have been caged, this life is littered with keys, even if it is “only” a key to the quiet place deep in your own soul where the God who loves you enormously resides.
I say this not to minimize the harm that is coming. I don’t plan on hibernating and I don’t recommend that you do, either. We may not know what to do next, but that’s OK. If we don’t yet know how we’re going to resist, it means the ones we are resisting also have no idea what we’re going to do.
So go do, or look at, or eat something beautiful. Snuggle someone willing. When it feels like the walls are closing in, go outside, and ponder all that they can’t take away from you, a life vast and surprising and still full of genuine yumminess and awe.
love you,
Molly
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