Watch out, people. I'm about to get all "Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock" on you. Or, if you prefer a less poetry-nerd example, I'm about to get all "Seasons of Love" on you. Confused? Sorry. Just read.
Sometimes, life is measured in minutes, counting down until the bell rings, the timer goes off, the alarm sounds, the phone vibrates.
Other times, life ticks by in hours, anticipating time to accomplish a task, what I will do the second half of the afternoon, when I will meet someone for coffee--always how I will get this done now so I can do that then.
Then, it can fly by in whole days, planner filled, calendar marked up, sometimes-busy, sometimes bursting-at-the-seams-wonderfully-full days that blur if I'm not careful, if I don't slow.
Or be doled out in weeks, gulps of time that "fly" even though we've lived every second of them.
Sometimes, I see life in months: months 'til school starts, 'til the babe comes, 'til we go on that trip, 'til Christmas!
And once in a while, life looks like years, experiences bracketed off by milestones, age, growing-up. Experiences only bracketed after enough time has passed to see the markers, to see years of life piled up into recognizable seasons.
I even imagine life as a lifetime, a whole living, breathing, individual-but-communal experience full of every stage of life as we know it. Can you imagine? Living through every stage? It's glorious! And scary. And overwhelming. To think of a lifetime of experience wrapped up in one person, a person whose unique print on the planet is so easily forgotten.
Which is why I also know life to be eternal, a life longed for that weds all that is beautiful and good in this world with the perfection of the next. It's not locked by time. It's unimaginable, mysterious, frightening, tremendous, exciting, Divine, and what makes my moments & minutes matter (they're eternal)...and not matter (they're temporal) all at the same time.
Does time's slipperiness ever baffle you, flying and slowing all at once?
3 comments:
Whoa. I think you climbed into my brain...I have been dwelling on so many of the things you mentioned in this post. I think it's a combination of Aubrey about to turn 3, Daniel being "half-way" done with residency, and me turning the big 3-0 in a few months. Time, time, time. It's on my mind. Oh, and I recently read Heaven Is For Real. Just thinking for more than 2 minutes about eternity will totally mess with your mind.
Speaking of time, it's been WAY too long since we've seen you all. Miss you guys.
Ashley, I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels like I'm in a time warp sometimes! Those life milestones get me every time! And yes, we miss you guys terribly!
Beautifully written.
We're coming up on our 5th wedding anniversary, and I've been experiencing a bit of the slipperiness of time. It seems as though we've been married forever (in the best way) but then it also seems like we're JUST getting started! This post was really great, lady.
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