Be It Gash or Gold

As I stumbled around the kitchen waiting for my coffee to brew this morning, my dad read aloud the following excerpt from his morning devotion:

Exhaust the little moment, soon it dies
And be it gash or gold, it will never come
Again in this identical guise

Exhaust the little moment--
Stay fully present while you:
• hear three people say, “You should write a book;”
• walk alongside an overly excited dog as he cavorts around the neighborhood;
• learn the word cavort while doing the morning announcements;
• hear a coworker rejoice when you say, “I’m planning to come back next year;”
• watch students practically run into school because they are so excited to be there;.
• hear yourself say, “Breathe. You don’t have to raise your voice. Raising your voice will do no good. It’s what they expect. Don’t do what they expect,” and then continue with class without raising your voice…even though you have this conversation with yourself at least ten times within a forty minute class period;
• have a truly joyful, genuine, and loving child feed you a piece of her favorite popcorn;
• hear the fears of someone awaiting diagnosis;
• watch a normally distant student light up as she plays the piano;
• hear a friend’s exhaustion during a week of crisis;
• fall asleep pondering how you can be a better teacher;
• clean up behind your coworkers;
• hear a student say, “Thank you for teaching me to learn.”
Be it gash or gold—
And there are a lot of gashes during the final month of school—
Exhaust the little moment—
Stay fully present—
Because this moment,
This day,
This time in life,
Be it good, bad, ugly, or beautiful
Will never come again.

Dear God, let me honor these days with gladness in my heart. Increase the joy within me and the gratitude I feel for life. Help me to see each moment as a gift and each experience as an opportunity to grow. Help me to see that I have all that I need and to live for Love and Love alone. Amen.