Realizing Life

         

Chris and our dog, Faye, left yesterday afternoon. My sister and brother-in-law, the day before. Taking a headcount, only one remains—that would be me. But I’m leaving tomorrow to return to life as I know it back on the farm. Today, though, I will see to it that the place where I have been blessed to be for the last 18 days (19 counting tomorrow) is as clean as we found it when we first opened the door.

        A few times, I thought of that man in the PBS special, Alone in the Wilderness. His name was Richard Proenneke. With his own hands, he made tools, built a cabin, caught fish, grew vegetables, and hiked through the wilderness in all kinds of weather and conditions. He lived among the bears, the wolves, mountain goats, and critters too numerous to mention. I’ve wondered why he did it and wondered what he thought about while he was alone.  

        When you’re alone, your mind is free to think about anything you choose, depending on what mood you’re in. Richard Proenneke filmed his adventures with a 16mm movie camera, which is narrated to give a sense of his ongoing train of thought. But what were his off-camera thoughts? I’ve wondered that while I’ve been on this personal retreat. My guess is, though, that he had such a proactive spirit, that he spent most of his time enjoying the moment and thinking with joy of his next project rather than going into a state of deep reflection or worrying about tomorrow or reviewing his past or contemplating the state of the world.

        I thought of him, not because I, in any sense, compare my adventures in the Poconos to his in the great Northwest, but because he represents something of a spirit that in the present age in which we live is not only admirable, but is worthy of, at least to some extent, adopting. There’s so much tension, anxiety, distrust, and fear for tomorrow that the value of today and the people of our lives are lost in the wilderness of our emotions.

        In the play, Our Town, Emily is a young woman who has died, but is given the opportunity to go back and relive one of the days of her life. She chooses the day of her twelfth birthday. But when she experiences it, she is upset by the fact that everyone in her household is so busy that they pay very little attention to one another or to her presence and the celebration of her birthday. In exasperation, she cries out, “Doesn’t anyone realize their life while they live it?”

        That’s the thing I hope for all of us in the present age: To realize life while we live it—not to be swept along in the swift current that carries us past the present gift of the moment, which is the only moment we have. That’s where joy lives and beauty abounds. “May God bless us, everyone!” (Tiny Tim, A Christmas Carol)