We only pass this way once.
I sit cross-legged on my couch and consider these words.
It doesn’t matter how many times I turn the wheel and navigate my driveway and my dirt road, I only pass this way once.
Every morning I arise, follow somewhat the same routine, pad through our rooms – bedroom, living room, kitchen, laundry – yet the paradox is, I’ve only passed this way once.
I’ve attended four Apprentice Gatherings, yet I’ve only passed each time once.
Same road, rooms, rendezvous, yet new day, new destination, new details.
There may be mundane in our routines and habits, chores and to-do lists, but each rising dawn quietly colors the morning with new mercies.
No day is identical. No day happens again. No day offers a dial to turn back time. We don’t get a pause button. There’s no way to tap back thirty seconds or ahead thirty seconds plus thirty. We can’t make the story hurry…or slow.
I can’t number the times I’ve run sudsy water in my sink, the treks to the mailbox, the endless clutter I’ve corralled.
Same motions, different time stamp.
The clock in the tower tick-tock, tick-tocks in an ever-circling accounting of the passing of our pathways.
For we only pass this way once.
Life is hard & it hurts us. No denying it.
Life is beautiful & breathes beauty for us. May we revel in it!
Did you know S.O.S. means Save Our Souls?
And I wonder if we don’t daily need S.O.S reminders.
For we only pass this way once.
Jim Smith says this in our Thursday intensive, “Your soul is your operating system.”
Barbara Brown Taylor is known for asking this question, “What is saving your life right now?” I love BBT’s books.
I love this question.
I love the posts by @emilypfreeman and @annebogel about this very question.
But today I want to know, “What is Saving Our Souls right now?”
For we only pass this way once.
If today would be my last passing of routines, I would hope I paused to delight in this life I have as I passed through.
I would hope I helped bring beauty & goodness & truth into the kingdom.
I would hope a few souls were graced with kindness, compassion, & empathy because my way passed along theirs.
S.O.S
We only pass this way once.