One of the stories the minister shared will stay with me. He told of a long time member of their fellowship, 94 years of age and at home in failing health. When the minister came to visit this frail man, he had to wait to see him, as the man was getting his regular assistance in going to the bathroom. As the man was coming out and starting to get into bed, the minister was admitted to the man's room. The man struggled mightily to pull himself with all the strength he could muster, into his bed. He would have nothing of receiving any help doing so. As they talked, the man expressed how lonely he feels having to be home most of the time. Then the man told the minister that he got a tattoo this past week. The minister smiled laughingly and said "no you didn't." The man, serious as can be said "yes I did!" And he held up his arm and showed the minister his tattoo. It read:
Live life now, and savor moments
He told the minister he should have opted for the deluxe tattoo, because what it should have said was:
Live life now, and savor every moment
So there is a 94 year old lonely, frail, and weak man affirming his intent to live in the present moment. The man has every reason usually given to avoid present moments that, for him, are filled with physical and emotional struggle, yet he has the courage to be present in each of those moments, and in doing so he lives an authentic life.
I thought a great deal about that message on my drive today, and I remembered a more naive and idealistic time in my life. I don't remember when or where I was, I think I was in my twenties. At the time, I had not done a lot or seen a lot in my young life. Even so, I had some flash of what looking back seemed to have been a bit of early wisdom. I told myself that I wanted to experience everything there was to experience in life. This wasn't a young man wishing to fly airplanes or climb Mt. Everest. No, the intent at that time was to experience the full range of emotional experience, to savor those moments. I didn't have the words "in the present moment" at the time, but that was the intent.
As I drove through miles of breathtaking prairie, I had the notion that most of us start with that innocent and curious drive to experience, not just thrills and excitement, but the whole range of human emotions. Somehow, over time, we learn to fear some of our own emotions. Truly, I've never had an emotion harm me in the least physically or emotionally, except through my own reaction to it.
Part of my experience today was going through a college campus environment, at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas. The campus is quite nice, with trees and areas for biking, walking and just enjoying campus life. It brought me back to my time at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. But it was the experiences and relationships of that time (some continuing to this day) that came back to me. Those experiences and relationships are like precious heirlooms now, kept hidden away as if locked in an old cedar chest waiting to renew their value in the present, a value that appreciate over time.
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| Image of Cedar Chest - to help your visualization ;) |
While lingering in The Little Apple, as they call Manhattan, Kansas, I began to savor the present moment, and it's power to unlock the cedar chest of past experiences. The late start limited my miles today, but gave the day a richness I don't experience driving 70 mph through potential but unrealized moments in places unvisited. Sometimes, slowing down and lingering is a better choice.
I made it to Joplin, Missouri today, and I'm actually just a couple of minutes from the Missouri-Oklahoma border. I won't go those two minutes tomorrow, because I have experiences awaiting me back home.
Travel Log - Sunday, September 21, 2014
Departed from Manhattan, Kansas at 2:30 PM
Arrived in Joplin, Missouri at 7:00 PM
285 miles
States on the return trip:
Washington
Idaho
Oregon
Utah
Colorado
Kansas
Missouri
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