One of the positive things about social media is its reach into the lives of friends — old, new, close, and distant. The news we see is often joyful, many times sorrowful, and very often revelations that make us prayerful. It’s always something.
In two separate, online conversations over the last week or so, I was reminded of the transitory nature of our lives. Visits about disease, addiction, death, loss of jobs. We never truly arrive, despite our hopes to do that. Goals are reached only to discover that there is yet another, better place ahead. And scattered along our path are some pretty ominous pitfalls.
Many of us postpone the best parts of our days — the moments for conversation, questions, ambiguity, friendship, and partnership. In a rush to find our next plateau of accomplishment or security and to navigate around the distractions, we brush aside what is meaningful.
It’s easy to do. Life hands us countless opportunities for distraction. Some times those diversions are loaded on to us despite our best-laid plans. But often the complications and the pain are a result of influences and forces that we invited into our lives along our way.
In truth, it is always something.
Yet, there is something else. From a place where the distraction is woven with the intended, we begin to get a good view of the fabric of our lives and our meaning. We become champions of our time when we embrace it all — good and bad.
The key word in the sentence isn’t “something” — it’s “always.”
Our mission is simply to come back to the something, to celebrate when it is good and to persevere when it is bad . . . always.