“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Cor. 10:13 NIV)
I have literally wasted years of my life. Oh, it didn’t happen all at once. It was a few minutes here and a few minutes there, but in the end it has added up to years. I have wasted so much of my time on regrets. I have looked back on the negative things I have said, the mistakes I have made, and the people I have hurt. Instead of just asking God for forgiveness and moving on I have stayed there mulling over them in misery. I have wasted even more time in worrying about the future or wishing for things I didn’t have but don’t need.
I have wasted so much of my life wanting money, security, and fame when all I needed was my daily bread. True it hasn’t been all the time but it is incredible how those wasted minutes have added up into hours, days, and even years spent not living in the Now.
I was pondering on this the other day while using up even more of my time pushing a cart in a crowded grocery store. I was wondering how best to stop myself from wasting any more of my precious moments here. It was then that my special needs son who is far wiser than me gave me the answer I needed. He spotted a teacher that he hadn’t seen since high school and called to her. Then he ran from my side to her and gave her one of the most heavenly, heartfelt hugs that I had ever seen. I smiled when I saw this and realized something too. This is how all of us should live each moment of our lives here.
Even the longest life here is too short for all of the love we can share, good we can do, and happiness we can spread. We all then need to embrace each moment we are given here. We need to fill each one of them with all of the love, joy, and light we can. We need to share smiles, give hugs, and touch hearts. We need to laugh, dance, and sing. We need to help others and help God to make this world the paradise it was always meant to be.
Joseph J. Mazzella
