I was sitting on the bus this morning and watching the world unfold in the same way it does every weekday morning. It was like watching a movie and I felt quite separated from it all – even seeing my own sitting on the bus as part of the movie. It was a delightful moment of detachment – of sheer objectivity. I couldn’t help but laugh and found it hard to wipe the smile off my face.
The question that came to me … where will this all be … 50 years from now? The fact is we tend to take life far too seriously. A lot of things are necessary but hardly any are important.
At their deeper levels many of the great world religions speak of the impermanence of things. Paul in 2nd Corinthians speaks of the “form of the world passing away”. Likewise, John in his second letter says “the world with its cravings is passing away”. The Buddha is reported to have taught the transitory nature of the world. I think both Paul and John’s words can be taken to mean not only a final passing away of the world but also a constant passing away at every level. Quantum physics points to the impermanent and uncertain nature of things at the micro-level. The positions of electron afterall can only be given as probabilities.
The problem then is being sucked in to the illusion of stability and permanence. Clinging to stuff that by its very nature cannot last. The challenge is (as always) to let go and let God. It is a call to transcend the world and see things for what they really are – necessary for the moment, but unimportant, in that they cannot last. Jesus put it this way… “you are in the world, but not of it … ”
May there be many more moments of detachment that bring a real belly-laugh in the midst of the “turmoil” of life.
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