Dost thou love life: Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of.
Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1746
Two things coalesced to create this post.
My son who had been in the hospital and seriously ill, recovered. Thank God, and the hundreds of people world-wide who prayed for his recovery. Thank the French Hospital in Hanoi, Vietnam for taking him in when his condition was grave. Thanks to many doctors and nurses who attended him while he was in the critical care unit. Thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers.
My son is now back at home and recovering. Well enough to take the day off from his physical therapy and go to the lake for a little time, a little fun, with friends. Doing nothing but to exchange pleasantries and swim.
The second thing that prompted this post was an interview on the television show Inside the Actor’s Studio with Clint Eastwood as guest. Biographies are a good teaching device and Clint’s advice contains some nuggets of gold. Speaking of his father who struggled to provide for a family during the Great Depression, Clint quoted his father, who at one time took the job of a gas attendant because that is all there was.
“You either progress or you decay. Absorb life, educate yourself. If you don’t, then you either stand pat or slide back.”
If one is familiar with quotes, then one recognizes in this advice the sage advice of Benjamin Franklin. My son is educating himself and reading a lot. He is currently absorbed in the Biography of Benjamin Franklin.
Ben and the illness have had an effect on my son.
Last night when we two sat at the dinner table, alone except for the dogs who lay quietly at our feet, he bemoaned how we squander our time on television and social media. There is perhaps too much digital information out there. Gone are quiet conversations around the dinner table, personal letters, and even phone calls. Holding hands may be threatened by this pandemic.
Pleasantries, as my grandmother and mother would call them, are out of date.
And I observed that sometimes, I am quite happy to squander time in the yard tending my garden and pulling weeds. But he retorted that that is meaningful and mindful. For in those quiet moments, without distraction, one appreciates the beauty of life.
Amen!
Leaving Oz 