Wednesday, August 18, 2010

“LIFE LINES”

By Jack Reeves

"But what minutes! Count them by sensation, and not by calendars, and each moment is a day." -- Benjamin Disraeli


What's the most determinative influence on anything that exists? The sun? air? heat? gravity?

It's time. Existence is bracketed in this not-understood phenomenon. Arguably, the key to creation, God, and eternity is tied to time. According to some respected thinkers, we'll never untangle the relationship.

Apart from physical and metaphysical mysteries, though, time is no mystery. And the older we become, the more time acquires an unfamiliar poignancy. It takes about a half century.

It certainly changes the way we view the moment. There comes an intensity, heightened by an urgency to savor to the fullest that which we cannot stop its passing.

A dew drop holds a universe; a planet's light reflecting off a lake brings tears. Cosmic mystery flows through a cobweb. Time--our precious time--is tinged with intensity.

Like a symphony, the finale is always the most powerful and passionate.

"As we grow older the world becomes stranger, the pattern more complicated of dead and living. Not the intense moment isolated, with no before and after, but a lifetime burning in every moment."--T.S. Eliot

5 comments:

Stickup Artist said...

This reminds me of one of my favorite William Blake stanzas from Auguries of Innocence.

To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour.

It does us well to find "time" to pause and enjoy the moment and the mystery. It's so easy to get caught up in the noise, especially when there is so much injustice and suffering in the world. But if we are not healthy ourselves, we cannot help others.

Great post Dee.

mythopolis said...

Be here now.

My word verification below is "UNION"!

Dee Newman said...

Thanks Stickup.

Jack is a close friend. We lost track of one another for nearly twenty-five years. I thought he may have died. Nine years ago I found him after sending emails out to fifty "J. Reeves." The reunion has been a blessing. He is one of the most intelligent and insightful people I have ever known.

Dee Newman said...

Dan,

Jack will like your synopsis. As you can tell, he enjoys making a point with as few words as possible.

Stickup Artist said...

That's really cool Dee that you could reconnect with your friend. He sounds like a really great person.