A simple resolution

A little while ago I read the blog of my former Episcopal priest in Austin. He and his family live in another state far away, but he writes a blog that I like to follow. He was writing about "resolutions". It is one of the finest, most touching, writings of his that I have read. In it he talks about our resolutions being a continuum rather than an ending. In our resolutions we almost always allow for the possibility that we will not be able to complete or accomplish some of our resolutions and will therefore have to reassess what we did not complete and adjust for the next year. Mostly, we assume we will have another year to evaluate and reinvent our resolutions.

He firmly states that he makes resolutions of things much like each of us ... perhaps loose a few of those unwanted pounds, take time to exercise more, organize better. He recalled an elderly parishioner once saying, and I paraphrase, "I just want to be here next year". This past new year's day my priest's brother-in-law passed away just shortly after having had dinner with all the family. He left behind a wife and 6 children who will have to grapple with those thoughts of why this happened.

It is especially difficult and tragic for the family members when another is taken away so suddenly and at such a young age. I am reminded of the death of an artist friend this past summer who, in his early-60s, died suddenly of a massive heart attack and there is the sad & tragic death of Jett Travolta at the tender age of 16. It seems so incomprehensible and yet people from around the world suffer each day whether from death by natural causes or from violence. This December and January we have seen much violent behavior in our own country and of warring factions in the mid-East and in Africa. It is too much to put one's mind around; too much to comprehend.

So, my priest left us with this thought, this resolution: "I still have some things I would like to do this year, to better myself, always with the hope of more balance in my life. But perhaps more than anything, I hope I can just be more aware, and believe what has always been a line in my rule of life, that every day should be lived like it's my last, because one day it will be."

No better words of wisdom have been spoken. I am saddened for his loss and that of his family. And at the same time I am thankful that I am here with hopefully more years to share with my family.