Not of This Time August 2017
When we spend our time, we are spending our life. Our 29,220 odd days are delineated by increments of time. So when we set a goal, we are planning to invest the most precious possession we have – time.
Goals can have a very short duration. I want to run this 100 yard dash in eight seconds, get to San Jose by 8:30 am, or stay on my diet at lunch today. Long-term goals are things like taking my company public in 15 years, obtaining a Master of Fine Arts degree, or bringing my orange tree to maturity and full production. These are achieved by larger invests of time. As we train, read, and attend classes, we are spending time that could have gone toward other so-called “productive” work. This also is a payment of our valuable years toward some goal.
The quintessential goal involves my final million years. What happens to me when I die? Considering our short duration here and the comparatively huge chunk of time afterward, what should we study to prepare for it?
Before a child can learn the alphabet, she must understand what an alphabet is, and more importantly, what can be done with it. Then comes writing, then grammar, then composition, and finally creative and productive text. Without this progressive knowledge, the final outcome is always less effective. Our spiritual progression parallels alphabetic learning and compositional output.
First is resolution of the two eternal questions: how did I get here and why am I alive? Then we seek and gain facts aligned with that understanding. Next is how to carry that knowledge into action. We do this partially by applying that information to a hundred decisions made every day. We gain wisdom from the outcome of those choices. Finally the impact of those communications can create a positive change for the recipients of our actions. Now the long term spiritual goal for the giver can be accomplished. The once distant goal is reached.
At last, and this is often in the final hours, we obtain a big picture or holistic view of all that we were and who we will soon become. We have run out of life years but concurrently finished our time on this earth. There is a new day for our spirit beyond the “midnight” which the poets use to describe our final hour. Oh what a day THAT will be.
A Guy Named Bob 