Headlights and Vapor
Yesterday, I was driving rather absentmindedly to go fetch a friend. It had just rained and now the sun was breaking through once more. When that happens, a strange phenomena happens down here in Georgia that doesn’t happen back in Iowa – a mist of fog raises up from the black pavement and swirls around a bit until the sun burns it off.
I was watching this happen and a verse came immediately to mind, “yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” James 4:14
This “mist” was there for barely a few minutes. It was beautiful, captivating, and promised the hope of something more, and then it was gone before I could even blink. Whoosh. The vapor was gone.
I’m pondering this as I drove, realizing the depth of the truth that I do not know what tomorrow brings and that life is so sweet and **SHORT**.
I came to the conclusion that the most important question
we can ask ourselves is,
“What is my life?”
we can ask ourselves is,
“What is my life?”
What is it? What do I want this vapor of existence to be? What do I want to do with the few precious moments I have?
Then the next question must be, “Does my life reflect this?”
I was pretty pleased with myself at that point and realized this idea would make a good blog. Just then the reality of trying to live this out smacked me square in the headlight. **CRASH**
Do you remember earlier when I described my driving as “absentminded”? Yep. I rear-ended someone. It wasn’t bad. No one was hurt. Almost went along our way but felt it would be prudent to do the accident report.
Talk about dragging yourself back into the realm of reality!
As I waited there – AN HOUR – for the patrolman to finish the report, I actually had to giggle to myself about how fickle and funny and fleeting life is. I was thankful it was only a slight tapping of the bumpers. It was 20 years ago the last time I did something like that.
20 years…
Some of those fleeting last 20 years have been…well…fleeting. Some of that time was lived intentionally.
My collision yesterday with the realities of life leave me with one burning question, “What will I do with the next 20 years of mist?”
What are you doing with your vapor of life?
