Of Our Existence

Of our existence:

if we knew of our existence,

as brief,

fleeting,

would we still lend our faith to matters no greater than this moment now at hand? There is no promise of eternity and only death is certain. To believe that something continues, some essence carries on is a matter of philosophy and religion. But life is what we have, tangible, and experienced right now. We have no guarantee of anything lasting past this very moment. If heaven is to be found it's of our own realization, taking place each instant we place value on qualities and people that we cherish. As Saint Catherine of Siena is reported to have said: "All the way to heaven is heaven."

it's this moment that we have.

far from being bleak this is our great awakening, that right now we can love so deep and fully that eternity is brought new and fresh to every moment. To abandon hope of anything enduring is to make our time here meaningful in a truly personal way. Intimacy is a timeless quality that exists when veils of any seeming separation part for our meeting with the world. It's realized now or not at all. To be intimate with any sense of God is not a matter of any distant time in heaven. God is in every detail of the world, through each breath received from air, of trees that cleanse and nourish the sky, and life in every form we share the earth with. 

God is now or not at all.

and it truly doesn't matter - we don't need the promise of anything but our own existence and we have that with each cherished moment. That's the gift of being aware, to know the briefness of all experiences, the tender ache of loss reborn instantly as awe to a new becoming. It all happens so easily, seamlessly, that it speeds by with hardly a notice. We miss the now of heaven and all the while long for a better, fictional world. To be awake is to simply appreciate this moment for all it holds.

if we knew of our existence as brief, fleeting, occurring only now - perhaps we would fine our own self-importance slips by with hardly a notice. We would more truly joint the world, intimate, makers of our heaven. Here. Right now. 

~

Peace, Eric