These Five Minutes

I remember a holiday dinner many years ago.  My husband and one of the boys, I think, were in the kitchen.  The rest of us were in the dining room. Steve was getting drinks for everyone and something happened to the 2 liter of Diet Pepsi - something explosive, and Diet Pepsi went everywhere.  It was on the ceiling, the walls, the floor and the husband.  Judy, his mother, who was in one of the stages of Alzheimer's at the time, could see the whole event from her chair in the dining room, and she just grinned and laughed.  I wish I could have seen the explosion - I imagine it was funny!

She might not have remembered the hilarity later, but for those moments, she did - and they were moments of joy.

A friend reminded me the other day that life can change in an instant.  You might be driving down the road one moment and be in a life-changing car accident the next moment.  I think we all know that is true, and it's why we worry when a family member is late or a telephone rings in the middle of the night.  We know how life can change.

How we react to that knowledge is our choice.  Realization of the fragility of life can bring us fear.  We can worry all the time about it - obsess, almost.

And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?  (Matthew 6:27)

Fear robs us of the precious life we have been given.  Instead, let the knowledge that your world can change in the next moment bring you gratitude.  Let it bring you joy.  Stand in the knowledge that where you are and the life you are living is a wonderful gift from God.  I stand in the joy of my family, in the laughter and presence of friends, in the love shown to me and that I am able to share with others, in the gift of the work I do and the pleasure of the rest I take.  I am grateful for the beauty of the world around me and for the gentle beating of my heart.  Worry can deafen all of that.

Choose to stand in the blessings of your life, knowing how grateful you are and how precious life is.