The End of One Journey and Beginning of Another

Last week, I was walking home for lunch when an ambulance passed me. It moved slowly over the dirt road, not an emergency. Still it’s always disconcerting to have an ambulance on your street. The other side of the spectrum from the old Publishers Sweepstakes commercials when Ed McMahon showed up at someone’s door with seven-foot long check for a million dollars.

The yellow sun was high in the Montana sky. The air was calm. A few slight wisps of clouds against the blue. The spring daffodils on the side of the road were drooping, giving way to summer’s bluebells. As I got closer to home, I watched the paramedics rolling my neighbor out of the ambulance and into his house. My neighbor is a kind, retired physician from Portland. He’d been battling serious illness for over a year. The last weeks were especially hard. It was clear that they were bringing him back to pass away in the comfort of his home surrounded by family.

As I passed their house, I heard a piercing cry. My two-month old son was telling the world that he was ready to be fed again. I pictured usually-smiling mouth stretched in a squall. All of the joy, love, anger, and sadness that life would require wrapped up in that little body.

The juxtaposition between birth and death was striking. Some ancient theologians described the process of life as going out from and then returning to the Divine. Plato and Aristotle both espoused versions of the concept. Christian theologians tied the theory to Jesus’s parable in Luke 19:12 and the King Solomon’s Song of Songs.

I’m writing this in the Salt Lake City airport. Travelers go past. Different races, faiths, and destinations. They recheck their itineraries. Contemplating the challenges and joys that they will face upon reaching their destination. I read the German mystic Meister Eckhart’s statement that “All created things have flowed out of God’s will.” Then imagine the travelers as souls departing the Divine for their time on Earth. Each going to their own personal destination to confront their own individual challenges and joys. Eventually to return, discuss their trip with the heavenly father, and be judged upon their actions.

• Did you remember the reason for your trip? 
• Did you stay true to that purpose? 
• Did you follow the signs and teachings that were sent to guide you? 
• How did you act when confronted with the adversities of life? 
• How did you serve your fellow human beings?

Anyone contemplating how they would respond to those questions should be filled with trepidation. Human existence is by definition cloaked in failings and sin. We do the best that we can, knowing it can never truly be enough.

However, the words of Psalm 145 give comfort. "The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in love. The Lord is good to all, compassionate to every creature." Psalm 145:8-9

The return to the Divine may be terrifying, but it will be more filled with joy and love than anything we can imagine.

Running with the Current: Psalm 51

Here is the next piece of "Running with the Current." The text is Psalm 51, Verse 1-17. The background was filmed at the Missouri River Headwaters near Three Forks, Montana.

I hope you like it.

matt

The View From Close to the Source

Living in your hometown is like listening to a cassette tape that has been rerecorded. Memories blend with reality as 1988's Ton Lōc seeped into 1989's Aerosmith.

A few weeks ago, I went back to my old high school with my friend Ryan Ranalli. An English teacher was looking for a writer of combat stories to speak to her class, but was willing to settle for a combat vet (Ryan) and a writer (me). Ryan and I walked through the packed halls unable to decide whether it felt like we'd only been there last week or a hundred years ago.

The high school students' styles had shifted back  and the kids looked almost the same as we did in the 1990s. The world had moved forward, but it was impossible not to see the almost eerie similarities between these students and the people that we'd graduated with almost twenty years ago. Like when they replace actors for a character in a movie.

Their dreams were a little different, but not that much. Their talents were a little different, but again not by much. The world had turned, but not truly changed. I remembered the character Tyler Durden's words in Fight Club, "You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake."

It's humbling to look back on the assembly line you came off of, but it's also freeing. The world has so many problems, more than our generation or any of the ones before us could solve. The closer that we are to those problems, the more daunting they seem. The pace of progress being that of a glacier instead of a hawk.

In the face of a sea of tasks, it's nice to see the hands that will pick up the burdens that we are unable to move. Coming up with different and better solutions to the challenge that we all face.

It's easier to keep up the fight knowing that replacements are not far behind.

Running with the Current - Hans Küng's insights on God's Role in History

I've read a lot of theological and spiritual works over the years and especially since I started writing this blog.  I've tried to share some of their insights through my own writing, but wanted to try a little bit different medium.

The result is the experiment that I'm calling "Running with the Current." In a nutshell, I'll read a short excerpt from a spiritual writing accompanied by videos of some of my favorite rivers, creeks, or other bodies of water. It's a chance to blend some of my favorite things.

The first shot is of Hans Küng's insights on creation from Küng's book "Why I am Still a Christian." Printed in 1986 by Abingdon Press. The video is of Prickly Pear Creek outside of Helena, Montana.

I hope you like it.

Thanks,
matt

p.s. Please share your own favorite reading and waters on youtube. Make sure to add "Running with the Current" to the title so they're easy to find.