A Bit of Spontaneity

I compose this blog as I sit, drying, recovering, from a spontaneous water fight at the last chaplaincy BBQ of the year. Today marks the start of the last week of the academic year here at York. All/most the undergrads are leaving this week for the year. Originally, we were only going to trow water at one of the CaSSoc presidents, but that did not last very long. So, most of us ended the year soaking wet. It was amazingly fun. And it is part of the reason I am now writing this.

Earlier in the afternoon, I was discussing blogging. I said that I probably wouldn't blog for a while because not much was going on. Just like the impromptu water fight, I decided to write a bit. I also decided to reflect a bit--motivated by the end of the year, the homily from mass, and another friend's blog. (It's called Trowels and Tribulations, and it is great.)

Today is the feast of Corpus Christi. The conclusion of today's homily had two parts. First, in Catholicism, religion and faith are not simply individual matters--me and my relationship with Jesus my saviour--they are communal concerns--either we all go together or we go not at all. This is an idea I love. The second part was on the nature of goodbyes. We never truly say goodbye forever, just goodbye for now. So, while I will inevitably be sad (as I am a bit now), I can be happy that I will see the people I've grown to love here again. Be that in a few months, a few years, or when neither (none?) of us are alive. (That got a bit out of hand, sorry.)

My friend's blog today was about history and the strange dichotomy between permanence and impermanence. Not to spoil it, but he's doing an archaeology dig in Israel--where stuff is really old. I've thought about the same issues that he talks about. How do we mentally handle living in places where there are things built hundreds (or thousands) of years ago, while we happily walk around with cell phones and iPods? Those societies, which are for many people (especially Americans), only accessible through books, though they can sometimes manifest themselves in physical traces. When we find them as physical things, must confront something, but I have never found a truly satisfying word for what it is. At some point, we will not be here, but some of our stuff will be. That's a strange thought, but it deserves to be thought about.

Transitions are painful. That will never change. On a personal level, leaving somewhere and starting something new is tough--it's a feeling that I've almost become accustomed to. On a societal level, transitions are no less painful but they take longer to occur. I am no longer confident I understand my point, so I'll concluded with one thought. The Disney movie "Meet the Robinsons" (which if you haven't seen, you need to) has a theme based on a Disney quote: "Around here, however, we don't look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new thing, because we're curious... and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." OK, I lied, two thoughts. A second Disney movie quote, from "The Incredibles," "I never look back, darling! It distracts from the now." And so, as we all move forward, let us not forget to live in the present.