Stay Gold

When I get ready for big (or even not-so-big) life transitions, I always go through a period where I think about all the "lasts"--like, the last time I'll teach this Totus Tuus class, the last time I'll run this particular route, the last time I'll eat in the dining hall, etc. Today was the last time I'll participate in a Sunday afternoon family activity for quite awhile, and also the last night shift I'll work at DQ. For our activity, we went to a park and played frisbee and walked around. As family activities go, that one's fairly common, especially when the weather's this nice (except it almost felt a little chilly at times--very strange for August in St. Louis). So the activity wasn't anything special, but I savored it because I know I won't get to do it again for a long time. When things are finite, it adds an importance to each instance. I'd say it added to my enjoyment of being with my family today to know that I won't be next week at this time. It seems kind of paradoxical, then, to think about how this finite-ness is a result of the Fall. We were created for eternity. We weren't created for goodbyes (sometimes I think that's what makes them so hard) and we weren't really created for things to end. But now, we tend to take things for granted if we have them all the time, and sometimes only recognize their goodness when they're drawing to a close or even gone. So in Heaven, I'm pretty sure we'll fully appreciate each and every moment, even though we have an infinite amount of them. And I guess it's a good reminder not to take things for granted here either...and that reminds me of a Robert Frost poem, "Nothing Gold Can Stay"

Nature's first green is gold,
her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
but only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf,
so Eden sank to grief.
So dawn goes down to day,
nothing gold can stay.

I had to memorize this in 8th grade, because it's featured in the book The Outsiders, which we were reading. And in the book, one of the characters then tells another to "stay gold"--to stay young and fresh and alive. I love that.

Maybe this is an example of God redeeming our broken human nature and working through our weakness...and as I think about my "lasts" over the next few days, hopefully it will remind me of His enduring love that's the same yesterday, today, and forever...and that's pretty golden:-)