Praying To Impermanence

” Why pray to permanence, why not pray to impermanence, to change, to – whatever comes next? Willingness is next to godliness.” – Mary Oliver

Autumn, more than any other season, reminds me of transition.

The leaves on our sugar maple are mostly gone now. In early fall, the tree was ablaze with color, the flashy reds, yellows, and oranges of a sunset but now, like a fan dancer who has dropped her fans, she is naked and exposed.

The weeds lining the stream bank beside the bike path where I sometimes run have died back, giving me a better view of the water. My dog Benji, ever the opportunist, slips down to the spring and drinks when I do not pay attention.

November makes manifest the spirit.

When we get rid of the extraneous, the ornamental, the flashy parts, the essence of a thing is revealed and we can see it more clearly.

November pares us down to our core.

In this ever-busy, hurry-through-each-moment existence, we (I) rush from one instant to the next, never remembering to slow down and appreciate this very second. As soon as I notice this little sliver of time, it’s gone. And now this one is gone too, slipped through my fingers, as it were.

Image by Paul Brennan from Pixabay

Seeing each moment as fleeting, but worthy of notice is thrilling, intoxicating, in the same way as a roller coaster. It’s one part terrifying and one part energizing.

 

We don’t have a choice, you and I; we belong to time. Each one of our seconds is borrowed, not ours to keep. It’s gone in a heartbeat, so we may as well make the most of it, and wring out the joy when we can.

November makes us pay attention.

Praying to impermanence is not for the faint of heart, but the thrills oh, the thrills are worth it.

“For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as all our fathers were: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is no abiding.” 1 Chronicles 29:15

 

I am linking up with Welcome Heart for Let’s Have Coffee, Debbie at Dare 2 Hear, Random-osity for Little Things Thursdays, Knit by God’s Hand for Thankful Thursdays, and Crystal Storms for Heart Encouragement, Amy at Live Life Well, Susan B Mead for Dancing With Jesus, Raisie Bay for Word of the Week, Morgan’s Milieu for Post, Comment, Love, Lyli Dunbar for Faith on Fire, Embracing the Unexpected for Grace and Truth, and Worth Beyond Rubies .

Please click on the following link to read more funny or inspirational one-liners. One-Liner Wednesday.