Moments That Matter

Many things cross our paths each day. Most of the time we are too wrapped up in our own day to notice. However, every once in a while, the universe opens up and we see the truth of life…the marrow, if you will.

Such was my day today.

I was witness to the confusion and embarrassment of a young couple that can’t quite qualify for a mortgage because of past due medical bills.

I watched a retired woman recovering from surgery decide what utility to pay. I watched as she struggled to figure out what job to take next because Social Security won’t make it until the end of the month. Forget the fact that she paid into it for half of a century.

I listened as a young man agonized over his girlfriend’s abortion and his inability to stop it.

I quietly cheered for a young mother going to school and trying to manage a family on her own.

I knelt, as I prayed for a teen trapped in the grips of addiction and for his parents who are helpless to change him.

I cried for a friend who has lost a son…something no parent should every endure.

All the above was today. But, it happens every day all around us. Most of the time we just don’t see it or take the time to look. Today I couldn’t help but see and my heart aches because of it.

So, with the family in bed I sat down to “relax” a bit and veg in front of the TV. I watched a little of the Olympics and that rolled into the news. It all seemed so trivial. A gold medal here, a team victory there. Then, a homicide, a presidential candidate did or said this or that…

The point is that nothing I watched on the TV mattered. I honestly wonder if it ever does. What mattered today was and is the people that I had the opportunity to connect with on a visceral level. The people struggling with the day. The people trying desperately to see God’s hand in their situation.

I get sucked into the politics of the day. I talk about this story or that. I talk about this candidate or that. I listen to commentary and read articles about candidates, social issues and policy decisions. I am to that what many are to professional sports. And sometimes I focus too much on the nonsense and forget what matters.

That, of course, is people. When I focus on the people that brush my sleeve each day my entire day changes. I am a part of them and they of me…no matter how brief the moment. I can impact them and they me…no matter how profound the impact. The key is I have to be in the moment and in that moment.

I was blessed with the opportunity to touch many lives today. More blessed to be touched by so many in a single day. Still more blessed to be aware of that exchange.

I pray I made the most of it.