Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Psalms 90:12 | NIV
Oh! Teach us to live well! Teach us to live wisely and well! Psalms 90:12 | MSG
The late, Brian Doyle, died what seemed an untimely death at the ripe young age of 60; the result of a “big honkin’ brain tumor.” He spoke of what he named: “the last frontier.” It was not exactly the frontier I expected him to name. For Brian Doyle the last frontier was NOT death, but humility……He writes:
This is what I know: that the small is huge, that the tiny is vast, that pain is part and parcel of the gift of joy, and that there is love, and there is everything else. You either walk toward love or away from it with every breath you draw. Humility is the road to love. Humility, maybe, is love. That could be. I wouldn’t know; I am a muddle and a conundrum, shuffling slowly along the road, gaping in wonder, trying to just see and say what is, trying to leave shreds and shards of ego along the road like wisps of litter and chaff.”
You do your best to reach out tenderly, to touch and elevate as many people as you can reach. You bring your love and defiant courage and salty grace to bear as much as you can, with all the attentiveness and humor you can muster; this is, after all, a miracle in which we live and we ought to pay ferocious attention to every moment, if possible. But no, you cannot control anything. You cannot order or command everything. You cannot fix and repair everything. You cannot protect your children from pain and loss and tragedy and illness… All you can do is face the world with quiet grace, and hope you make a sliver of difference…
Brian Doyle In Eight Whopping Lies and Other Stories of Bruised Grace
“Living mindfully” – paying attention – fighting the tendency to sleep-walk through our days, and to take note of the incredible mystery and majesty of life, is as timeless a call as the Psalmist’s poetry. We can miss the actual living of our days by being consumed in the insignificant. We can spoil days by clinging to a past we cannot change, or marr the present by worrying over a future we cannot control or predict. So Mark E Thibodeux SJ calls us to consider embracing the gift of Examen – a now 500+ year-old daily practice of self-assessment and reflection. He writes:
I want to share with Christ the really big things: my grave sins and my overwhelming consolations….But the closer I grow to Christ, the more I want to share with him, the seemingly insignificant things as well. I know that he’s there, in the midst of it all, and I long to tap into his presence right there in the mud and muck, the pencils and French fries of my complicated yet incredibly ordinary life.
from Reimagining The Examen
If the sleep-walking has left you empty, perhaps God is inviting you to go deeper. If you are ready to explore the gift of Examen, simply visit the link below and learn how you can embrace God in the here-and-now. John Wesley affirmed on his death bed, “The best of all is, God is with us.” These were words that characterized all of his life. Do they characterize ours today? http://reimaginingexamen.ignatianspirituality.com/#about
Still In ONE Peace, 
Jon (the Methodist)
If you would like to view past editions of How Sweet the Sound, follow this link: https://sounddistrictnc.org/category/from-the-ds/