to be born in this world
for even one minute
is something extraordinary
I
I have seen an anonymous post recently about how briefly we are here, which is true, and although it was well meaning in the end, for me it felt like it ended up diminishing the significance of our lives here
this really is an incredible world, so vast, so rich, and diverse
the arts, the natural world, all the incredible things that people have done, and are doing now
all that is endlessly beautiful and inspiring
and even though we are just here briefly like this, just for the time it takes to snap our fingers three times, if that, it’s amazing to think about
even if there are no past and future lives {which I think there are}, and even if there are not other worlds {which I’m sure there are}, still – to have been born here even once, however long it lasts, is incredible… I think it’s something miraculous, really…
science would say each of our bodies and this world are the result of millions of years of evolution
but there is a deeper dimension also, I think, that poets and contemplatives know about
I have been thinking also lately
it’s true that
For some short time, our name and possessions continue, but after a few years, even these fade away. The virtue of what we accomplish is all that continues, and surprisingly, these transient forms can communicate something of our timeless nature…
They are ephemeral as clouds, and, they are also truly significant…
You have probably seen the photograph of the universe, with millions of stars, and an arrow saying ‘you are here’ – and to me, our supposed insignificance is the message
but this is missing the point of our existing at all
and the purpose we can find and embody, to appreciate one another, to care for one another, to celebrate one another, and all that is beautiful in this world
we are also heirs here to our family and great spiritual traditions, and these are precious and meaningful, they are sacred
if we leave these out, and just say ‘our lives are brief’, then the essential is simply missing
It’s completely missing the actual point of our being here
and so, this is why I said
to be born in this world
for even one minute
is something extraordinary
I also wrote
Knowing this,
Light appears in our words and actions, to give;
with humility and grace, encouragement lifting both ourselves and others comes from this – the immediacy of love, our transcendent nature,
time and what is beyond time meeting and knowing each other…
to be born into this world
for even one minute
is something extraordinary…
II
If I had just one hour, I would fly over the earth one last time, and look at the mountains, and the color of the ocean in Caribbean, and the mediterranean
I’d look again and the flowers, and animals, and children at play, and at rest, sleeping like angels
I’d want to listen to bach and mozart one more time, and the sound of eva cassidy singing
I’d look at art, and remember my teachers and celebrate all they did here
I’d say thank you again and again and again to my parents and sister, and to my teachers, for those who were friends even for a day, or a few minutes….
I’d want to ride that feeling of gratitude to wherever I go next
This place was never meant to be our home for all time – look! – it has always been this way
and so, I am wishing all those I have ever known much peace and satisfaction
to be born at all was a blessing here
tho it didn’t always seem so
I take the sky high view now
and however else things go, this much is clear
although most of the time we don’t speak or understand the languages of other peoples, and animals, and almost all others don’t hear us or know what we mean to say
still, each of us somehow belong,
bearing the gifts of our ancestors
and sharing these…
To be born into this world
for even one minute
is something extraordinary
III
On our last day of life on this earth, we will find out if we have lived with gratitude. We could even have the idea that we have appreciated our time here, and our family, teachers, education and the beauty of this world. We will see. We may be surprised, and feel we’ve been robbed, but this life has been a gift from the first. For however long it lasts, if we see the breadth and depth of it, and embrace it all, there is an ease to living, and leaving to go to the next world, our next life.
I can tell you this now, because we have this time:
If we live our life with wonder and gratitude, we will leave this world with wonder, and gratitude;
but if we live with bitterness and resentment, feeling we have not gotten our due, or that others neglected or mistreated us, that is the feeling we will also exit this life and this world with
It’s true that we may change in our last hours, seeing how futile, and how wasteful those petty grievances have been – in fact it happens that way for many people – and then of course, the trajectory of our future will change in that brief time
but why wait? We can think this through now, carefully
and awaken to this sense of the miraculous, our belonging, for however long it lasts… a century, decades, years, days, hours, moments, all of it is precious and true