Impermanence Is Us

"All spiritual life begins with the shock of impermanence."

-- David Guy

You're going to die. And everything and everyone you see, know, or can imagine will pass away as well. And that's the good news! Impermanence is not to be avoided, resisted, or mourned -- it is ridiculous to fight the inevitable. Instead, seeing the beauty in both creation and destruction, we can experience Spirit in this moment, right now. And, as Guy points out, that is just the beginning.

But middle and end of spiritual life are much the same as the beginning -- marked by the recognition of the sacred ineffableness of each and every moment. Nothing is forever, nothing lasts. That's OK. That's as it should be. How do we know that's how it should be? Simple -- that's how it is. Reality trumps all shoulds. And reality's defining characteristics is that it is ever changing.

So what? So, why "rage, rage against the dying of the light?" It matters not whether that death be of the physical body, of a once luscious relationship, or of an ideal job. None of them will ever last. Get over it already!

Enjoy the now. Yeah, I know, everybody says that. And you know why they say it, even if they can't live it? Because it's true! Trite sayings are deep truths, popularized and diluted. These forms of bumper sticker wisdom too shall pass.

Today it's enough to recognize that. Tomorrow it will be enough to see it anew. Impermanence on and on for as far as the mind's eye can see. And you riding the waves of change with a big shit-eating grin on your face. At least for now....