Just because...

Sometimes I want to post a new blog just because I love finding cool pictures, and this picture is surely one of the coolest I've seen lately. Is it sunrise or sunset? Who can tell? Reminds me of a story that I know I can't relate in much detail, except to say that the gist of it is "good news, bad news"...who can say? I'm sure I'm not making much sense, but here's what I'm trying to say...the absolute worst things can happen to us, or what seem to be the worst things, and it can somehow become good in the end.

And so, is it sunset...or sunrise? You decide. I decide. We decide. Is it a beginning, or an ending? Maybe the fullest truth is that it's both. It's "The Lion King" and the circle of life...it's living and dying...and it never really stops. If you're Christian, or perhaps even if you're not, you might find it interesting to know that most Christian traditions explain this as the "paschal mystery"...Jesus said, unless a grain a wheat falls to the ground and dies, nothing can grow from it...Jesus himself, whether this is your frame of reference or not, explained his purpose as coming to die so that others could live...in God's economy, death doesn't just follow life, but precedes it as well.


And so, something in my life that represents absolute joy today could represent absolute sorrow tomorrow, or the exact reverse. In a funny way, it's not totally unlike being caught in the undertow, spinning around...right side up...upside down...both.

I might win some kind of award for obscure and inscrutable writing for this particular blog entry, but after all, I just wanted to post the cool picture, and hope you won't hold the writing against me. Maybe I'm not the only one tumbling around today, hoping to pop right-side up...if not, maybe someone somewhere will be glad to know that they are not alone in the process, and this will give some comfort. I hope so. I've quoted the movie Shawshank Redemption before, but it's one of my favorites, and full of wisdom, so I'll quote Andy Dufrene when he tells his friend Red, "You either get busy livin', or you get busy dyin'..." Unavoidably I think, we have to do both.

Comments

  1. Pastor PhilJune 15, 2010 at 5:22 PM

    I don't think this post was obscure in the least. It made me think of the cells of our bodies - living but always dying and in dying always being reborn. We live in the "both and." And the picture was way cool.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownJune 15, 2010 at 8:30 PM

    Thanks Phil - you're a sweetheart. I like the cells in the body idea - very much on point. :)

    ReplyDelete

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