Give Your Heart Away

Knowing how short this life is, knowing how much is surely to be taken away from our lives, how can we not want to give all we have away? It's always better to give too much than too little, especially giving of yourself. In the end, will it really bother us very much if someone took a little too much from us or we spent too much of "our time" helping others, even if we got little in return? My God, surely no matter how much we give there will probably still be more we could have done, more of our self we could have shared with our friends, more of our heart we could have worn on our sleeve- even risking it being broken at any moment. Better to have a broken heart and spirit because you gave too much, better to have given all you have away in love and be poor than to have a good, solid, untouched, like-new heart that never lived or risked or gave. Every crack, every blemish in our spirit shows that once, we cared more about something else and less for ourselves. Once, it was really worth the risk.

Friends Throughout the Ages

Treasure all friendships, the new and the old ones, for in them we may be catching a glimpse of eternity. There is something magical in finding someone with whom you share particular interests, who you can stop and say, "Really? Me too. I thought I was the only one." Who knows how long these fellow travelers called 'friends' will be by our side. We may end up fighting shoulder to shoulder with them in battle at the end of time, or they may simply be near us at the great Stone Table, talking and laughing of things remembered near a roaring fire. We may also have known them before, but that is another matter entirely. The one thing we can never say is that true friendships are a slight, unimportant thing. They may, in fact, be His eternal gift throughout the ages.

Moments of Loss

How does one possibly get over death? The loss of not just a loved one, but in a way a part of yourself? The heart has many layers and hallways, and no single loss will destroy it. But my God, there are moments He allows you to see the whole thing for what it is (as much as we can bear), and it is in those moments more than any other that their silence becomes deafening.

Pockets of Time

Though it surely seems that Time is now the enemy, and there is less and less of it each day, I am finding something else strange to be true: the more time I set aside in silence and prayer with Him (even 5 minutes a few times throughout the day), the more that I am finding I actually have more time. It may be that there are pockets of time interwoven in our own 24 hour period, such that the more time we give to Him the more He is able to give to us. Though it appears to come from nowhere, it is there just the same- much like the loaves and fishes so long ago.

Road to True Joy

Wherever you are, whatever the situation is, don't ever feel like you've gone as far as you can go. He means to take you to far better lands than where you are right now. Remember that a journey to a new life begins with a step . . . then another step, and another. Even if you have given up on yourself, take heart- He has not given up on you. Trust in Him completely, and He will lead you to the Right Path: a life of purpose, hope, promise and love- overflowing with true joy.

Enemy of Time

One of the great curses, besides death, is surely Time. Moments with friends, good times, things you wish would go on and last forever seem to end far too soon. There's nothing like a great conversation to make the dreaded hands on the wall clock move that much faster along. As time continues to speed up, and I have no doubt that it is, my only hope is that one day we will at last be outside of it looking in. Finally freed from time's prison, we can occasionally glance in through the school window like students out for the summer, marveling at our newfound freedom.

Sweaters on the Playground

C.S. Lewis once said, "You don't have a soul- you are a soul. You have a body." When the time has come for this old set of clothes called a body to fall away, don't be disillusioned. That torn gray sweater was never me, you just got use to seeing me in it. All the jackets and sweaters are on the edge of the playground for a reason: we simply outgrew them. There was more important things to do, swings to play on, running and jumping with the Lord, spiritual things. We won't be coming back for those old clothes, either. There is no need to. The Great Recess that never ends has finally begun.