Got an email the other day with the subject line “Interesting Trivia”. It said that at two minutes and three seconds after 1 PM today the date will be:
01:02:03; 04/05/06
It won’t happen again for a hundred years.
We tend to take note of events that don’t come around often. Halley’s Comet makes an appearance every 76 years. If you didn’t see it in 1986, you have to wait till 2061. Which for many of us means we won’t ever see Halley’s Comet. It’s the same feeling I have when I try to put “Super Bowl Champions” and “Minnesota Vikings” in the same sentence.
When thinking of things astronomical, we understand that certain alignments of planets and stars happen only once, if you’ll pardon the metaphor, in a blue moon. So what is it about the ordinary moment that makes us think they are ordinary?
This morning I took my parents to the airport. They have been visiting for the past week. I remember thinking when I picked them up that the days would fly and before I knew it I’d be taking them back to the airport. And that’s what happened. We thoroughly enjoyed our time together but the week was a blur. This morning it dawned on me that we were so busy having fun that I didn’t take a single picture while they were here. So engrossed in the moments that I didn’t think to capture any of them to look at later.
It’s good to be fully alive in the present moment. Yet this week I was reminded again how easily it is to take the present moment for granted. My parents commented on how much Annie and Emma have grown since they last saw them. It’s not as obvious to me because I see them everyday. Yet how important to pay attention to the ordinary day. Each day, a little growth. A little change. A little here and a little there and before you know it you’re picking out high school graduation announcements.
It’s a wonderfully cool, Winnie the Pooh blustery day in Phoenix. All my windows are open. The leaves of my orange/lemon tree are scratching on the window screen to my office. Roses are blooming in my backyard. My grapevine is leafing out. The chimes hanging on my patio play random compositions with each gust of wind. Palmer the Eskimo Dog is chilling in the grass. And I’m about to go play Chutes and Ladders with Annie and Emma while we listen to some Big Band music.
We won’t see 01:02:03; 04/05/06 on the calendar again for a hundred years.
We will never be where we are with the people we’re with on this day again…ever.
That makes this ordinary day extraordinary.
Carpe diem.
“This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.” – Psalm 118:24
Todd A. Thompson – April 5, 2006
