The Speed of Time

When we are young, we rush from one activity to the next and are instantly impatient when forced to wait, although we have more time than we can understand. As we age, and as our time grows shorter, we tend to slow down, to savor moments rather than try to rush on to the next. 

When we are young and time stretches out beyond our view, we rush around like we are nearly out of time. When we are old and approaching the horizon of our time, we slow down as though we had all the time in the world.

By the time we have learned how best to use our energy it has fled us. I wonder why this is so.

Twister, and Humanity's Demise

Our collection of laws in the U.S. keeps expanding as laws get increasingly narrow, which must lead to conflicts as narrow laws cross each other. Lawmaking has become a giant game of Twister in which various factions call out positions to bend and contort the law to fit their interests.

It is only a matter of time until the law can no longer bend or contort itself to appease the call of the day.

What happens then?

At what point will the legal system become so bloated and slow as to be little use to anyone?

We are trying to substitute laws for thought, a trend that pervades many areas of life today. We want systems, steps, processes people can follow mindlessly, but is not thought the defining characteristic of humanity?

What possible good can come from requiring people to think less? Thought, wrestling with ideas, expressing creative vision, this is the great gift and burden of being human.

What's the Use?

Sometimes I wonder why anyone should bother to write, or more specifically why I should bother to write. Surely there is nothing new for me to say. Perhaps it is true that what you and I have to say has been said before, but when when we discover something unknown to us, it is new to us. 

There are as many worlds as there are eyes to see, ears to hear, noses to smell, fingers to feel, and hearts to love. What we discover, what we experience for the first time, is new to us even though it is old to someone else. This life is not about finding something no one else has found. It is about sharing what we find and helping those around us on their journeys. 

We are communal beings and our value to each other comes from our willingness to share our hearts and minds. Perhaps we are most valuable when we are most vulnerable. Perhaps we are most valuable when we stand with those who are vulnerable.

Sure, other people in other times and places may say or do what has been said or done, but who else right now, right here can say or do what you and I have to say or to do? Do what you have to do, say what you have to say, and worry not that it has been or will be done or said minutes or miles away.

Broken Clock

There's clock on my wall that no longer tells time.
I leave it there, though I'm not sure why.
What good is a clock that doesn't tell time?
Maybe it's a reminder that time isn't really real.
It's just a tool to help us with what matters most, with what is real.
Time is just a clock that one day will stop,
but life will go on just as it does around the broken clock on my wall.

Is a Diamond a Diamond?

Is a diamond a diamond that is not found? If not, then what is it before it is pulled from the ground? What good is a diamond that never meets eyes? In the dark heart of the earth it waits to exist. 

It waits for the light to reveal what it's worth. 

Its beauty does not change, but no eye sees it waiting, hidden in its dark and quiet place. How many eyes will see it even if it is pulled free to meet the light? Is a diamond a diamond when no one sees? 

The answer, I'm afraid, is in you and in me.