Skip to main content

New Year, A View and Some Thoughts From Outer Space

View From Lake Hogan Trail
Stand in awe before your creator and all that you see. Know that there is something bigger. Take comfort in that thought and be satisfied. 
On Christmas Day we watched a movie. It was The Martian with Matt Damon. (Yes, I know I am very late to the party. We just don't watch many movies.) It was very entertaining and oddly enough, very moving in a real spiritual sense. I have included a quote from the film here which really struck me. The quote from the movie is Mark Watney's letter to his parents to be delivered by his commander in the event of his death. In the letter he talks about his job, how he loves it and isn't giving up the fight but just preparing for an outcome. It's the last part though that really got me, the part about him dying for something  greater than himself. He accepts this and seems satisfied with the knowledge of what may happen to him. It was a very moving scene. May we all be so composed and content as our end approaches.

 I should mention now that I am notorious for not quite getting the "required point" of a story, an article, a quote, or someone's narrative. I always miss the main point and turn it into something slightly different. (This was a real challenge for me throughout my school career and continues to be so, obviously. I was constantly being corrected.) The above quote is no exception to this lifetime "rule." I am sure that even though I know what Matt Damon's character wrote, I really took it to mean something else entirely. I am offering my own take on things, as can be read in the opening lines of this post, and yes, I quoted myself! So there!

 His words resonated with me and appeared at just the right time. There is some part of me that always wants to be at peace with my life no matter the circumstances. No matter what my past life has been like and no matter what the future holds, I would like to say that I am satisfied. Believing that there is something outside of myself, beyond my comprehension, would be wonderful. It is a relatively new way of thinking for me so I continue to work on the idea.  I can't fully grasp it though just as I can't fully stand in awe of my creator as I would want to. I'd like to be able to look out at the mountains and lake each morning on my walks and really have that kind of faith; the kind of faith that is peaceful, complete, and sure of itself. The kind of faith that the character in the movie has. (Even though he is a fictional character the idea of his resolution seems true and firm.) And I know that having faith in anything is a lifetime endeavor, one that you never come to the end of. Still.

 So for those of you who love New Year's resolutions, new beginnings, fresh starts, do-overs and all of that sort of stuff, may I suggest the above quotes as places to begin? Whatever your own spin may be, I wholeheartedly encourage it without correction!

 Happy New Year to anyone reading. May it be peaceful and full of satisfaction and awe.
Libby

Comments

Post a Comment

Please feel free to comment but understand that I will not publish something hateful, mean spirited or irrelevant to the blog post.

Popular posts from this blog

Day 1 of 7: Colonoscopy Prep: Vegan/Plant Based Style

It seems these days that nothing is out of bounds when it comes to documenting one's experience of anything. Doesn't seem to matter how trivial or important that experience is so long as it is either recorded and published via a video or a still picture or a carefully crafted written work. Everything is fair game. In the spirit of that no-limits approach and nothing-is-too-boring approach, I will be documenting my experience. It's not just any experience, mind you. It's the experience of a vegan/plant centered person and it's mine! I will be writing for the full seven days about what is working and what isn't. I hope you will follow along and maybe at the same time, I can provide some useful information.  ______________________________________________________ In April of this year I turned 50. I was looking forward to that, had a nice day in fact, and went on about my business after celebrating quietly. Just another birthday you say? Hardly. The age is significa...
2 comments
Read more

Six Month Marker: My Reflections on Veganism

My new friend! Photo by author  It has been six months now since I elected to go vegan. Switching to this way of eating has occurred gradually over the last couple of years and was prompted by a desire to eat in a way that was personally more meaningful and more healthful.  I have been treated for cancer and heart disease and so choosing a healthy plant based diet is part of my life plan in dealing with the aftermath of those conditions. Additionally, I really want to match my food choices with how I feel about animals; that they are sentient beings just like humans and that every last one of us are God's creatures, no matter how small or large or seemingly insignificant. In an overall way then, it's important for me to honor both my health and my beliefs. Veganism helps me to support both of those priorities. As with many types of lifestyle changes, the process of going vegan has been slow. It is still a work in progress. Shopping for food is problematic. Many p...
3 comments
Read more

Listen With Our Hearts: An Article and Some Artwork

Listen With Our Hearts 18" x 18" mixed media acrylic and painted papers Perhaps one of the hardest things to understand as an adult is how complex some issues can be. Human beings are complex creatures. We can both love and dislike someone simultaneously. We can break laws in the name of moral justice knowing full well that we are doing something illegal. And we can want to help someone whose values, reality or lifestyle may differ from our own beliefs. It's very complicated to be human. Things are not neat and tidy, very seldom are they black and white, and they almost never are static. Issues can be open for discussion and outcomes can often change long standing beliefs. As I said, it's hard. So, it was with a happy heart that I read a recent article last week  written by Billy Critchley-Menor, SJ and published in the Jesuit Post. The article highlights the efforts of an Argentinian nun to minister to the trans gendered community members in her area. It ...
2 comments
Read more