Treasures

The sense of one moment has stayed with me for more than fifteen years.  We were sitting in the bleachers in Jupiter Florida, late on a sunny afternoon.  Summer, a friend’s daughter, was the catcher on a softball team competing in a local tournament.  The spirit on the field was ideal, competitive, lively, and at the same time respectful and friendly.  Even the parents were embracing the ideals their daughters were playing out on the diamond.  As the game got into the middle innings a comment came from my blindside.
 
“Life doesn’t get any better than this.”
 
At the time, I agreed without much thought.  It was a fantastic day.  The feeling of everyone present was the best that community can and should represent.  Every star, peace, belonging, love, compassion, and acceptance, was aligned and present.  Yet somehow, I didn’t value an extraordinary treasure as fully and completely as I would now.
 
If God or circumstances asked for my life, what would I miss the most?  I, like some before me, now know the answer.  “No more glimpses of God in the land of the living, no more meetings with my neighbors, no more rubbing shoulders with friends.”  (Isaiah 38.11)  Said another way, I would miss the relationships I treasure.  They are the greatest gift we can hold, nurture, and protect.  They actually stay with us in a unique way.  Relationships can similar, but never simply replicated.  They are your and mine, to be valued as much or as little as we realize.
 
I realize how easily I squandered life greatest treasures in the past.  It is simply a fact.  The incredible news is that yesterday does not, cannot bind me.  Every day, each morning is a fresh opportunity to realize, enjoy, and nurture the treasures closest to my heart.  These treasures are not to something I simply look at from a distance.  They are for engagement.  They are for living.  They are for slogging through the good and bad that come with everyday.
 
Today is our moment to enjoy, appreciate, and live with their presence.