Shiny And Oh So Bright

I drove my oldest son to the airport this morning.  He's on his way to attend yet another friend's wedding--the third or fourth this year.  

I remarked on this fact, and that his own wedding is only a couple of months away. It seems hard to believe, to be honest.  

I say to myself, "Surely, I am not old enough to have a kid who is getting married," but then I catch a glimpse of my reflection in the mirror, and realize that I definitely look old enough to have a kid who is getting married.  

The ride to the airport this morning was a groggy one for both me and my son.  We had a late night last night at a Smashing Pumpkins concert.  At one point (in between songs) I reflected with him on how I'd started listening to the band not long before he was born.  

An unspoken sentiment passed between us as we thought about the connection we shared through the music we were hearing---songs that were part of the soundtrack of our lives.  

I'm not sure how many moments like that we'll have in the days, months or years ahead, so I want to hold on to it for a while.  Those are the moments that matter--the eternal ones where you push back against time for a moment to rejoice and remember.  

There's a wonderful Fredrick Buechner quote that I read recently that captures the experience of those kinds of timeless, resurrection moments--the moments when everything slows, and we sweetly feel our own mortality without fear, without dread, filled with the perfect peace of the Risen One.  

He writes:  

Who can say when or how it will be that something easters up out of the dimness to remind us of a time before we were born and after we will die. 

May you be surprised today and every day by the hope that "easters up out of the dimness" in ways that are shiny and oh, so bright.  May you be struck by the beauty and grace of this fragile, wonderful life you've been given.  

And may the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you now and always.  Amen.