大象传媒

A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Steve Taylor

Good Morning

It seems to be a law of human nature that when things are familiar, we take them for granted. This is usually true of our health, freedom and prosperity, and the people in our lives. And it鈥檚 also true of life itself. After all, what could be more familiar than the life we have always known, ever since birth?

About 25 years ago, a friend told me about an amazing man who ran a local launderette. 鈥淗e鈥檚 like a guru!鈥� she exclaimed. 鈥淵ou have to go and see him!鈥�

Soon afterwards, I met Tony, a tall, white-haired man in his late 60s. He told me about his dramatic transformation 15 years ago, after almost dying of a heart attack. Before then, he had been a successful businessman, working long hours and thinking of little else besides his job. But after his heart attack, his priorities shifted. He felt as if scales had fallen away from his eyes, and he could suddenly understand the meaning and value of life. As he told me:

Happiness is being aware of how lucky you are to be alive, to be able to see the beauty of the world all around you at every moment.

Is it necessary to have a brush with death, like Tony, to stop taking life for granted? Perhaps we can do this simply by reminding ourselves that life is temporary and fragile, a precious gift that will one day be taken away. Today, let鈥檚 be aware of the blessing of life itself. In the inspiring words of D.H. Lawrence: 鈥淭he magnificent here and now of life in the flesh is ours, and ours only for a time. We ought to dance with rapture that we are alive and in the flesh, and part of the living, incarnate cosmos.鈥�

Blessings.