Big Picture

Have you ever wondered how many babies are born every day across our Earth? I wonder what the number is. Is it enough to compensate for how many people die every day? I think more babies are being born than folks dying. Is that a good thing? Probably. Maybe not. Do you wonder how it all works together? It's miraculous. It's big. Think of the tiniest little bug you've ever seen. Think how little it was. Think of the stray cats you've seen on the road. Think of the homeless people in your city, where they are, where they live, where they can find a place to lay their head. Think of how hard some people fight to live when they find out they have cancer. What about those who choose not to fight? Decide to succumb to the disease? Or decide they are tired of fighting for anything? Life, air, a new day, love, anything.....

What makes me sad is watching those who are left behind deal with death.

I have a neighbor. I haven't talked about this here, and maybe I won't even do it now, tonight, but it's been a super odd line for me to walk. And as much as it is not one percent about me, in the slightest, somehow I've succeeded in making it about me, selfishly finding that I am having a hard time extending my hand. They are dealing with death; the death of their teenage daughter. It's there in black and white, she is gone. She was brave, she fought, she had cancer, we did not know her, in fact, I never met her. But she was still strong, brave, smart, and beautiful, as we learned and were witness to by the sheer showing of her friends and family at Mass the night before her funeral four or so weeks ago. She fought to live.

Some folks are ready to go; they let go when it's time. I know this well. Some are young, some are old. They're at peace with it. Sometimes they need to hear from their loved ones it's ok for them to go and sometimes they are so willful they aren't waiting for permission or anything of the sort. They are plainly and simply, ready to go.

Think about the birds in the bird nest in a tree near your home. Protecting their eggs, building their nest day by day. Or the line of ants you see outside that as children we became fascinated with...they are all working hard for the greater good of their community. Our existence in this world is such a gift and we are so small in the grand scheme of things and how it all works together, how we make our way through this world..it's big. The decisions we make every day that allow us to continue this life sometimes seem insignificant and maybe they are...maybe the deal is that it's all fate and predetermined by God at the end of the day. Maybe that's the deal.