*Free Gift With Purchase

Some time ago I impulsively decided to buy a CD.  Now, usually I don’t spend money impulsively; I generally invest a lot of time into research and making sure that I’m getting a good chunk of value for what I’m spending.  And let’s face it, it’s always a gamble with CD’s, right?  You inevitably only like about 3 songs on there and the rest of it is rubbish or boring.  But I just closed my eyes and bought it, because I really liked that one song.

To be honest, I didn’t even know the band existed until a few months ago; I didn’t know if they had any other albums; and I certainly had no idea whether any of the songs on that CD would even be something I would like.

Boy, was I surprised!  Pleasantly surprised!  I popped it into the CD player of my car on my way home and by the time song number 5 came around, I was air-punching with pure ecstasy.  There was no doubt in my mind, I got value for my money.

We all know that it doesn’t always work like that, right?  I’ve had my fair share of disappointments over the years because the thing I bought just didn’t do what it said on the tin.  Or maybe I just expected more than was ever intended, I don’t know.  The fact remains, more often than not we expect something and then it’s not what we had hoped for.

An experience like that has the potential to dull our spirits and turn us sour.  Inevitably we approach the world with a cynicism that poisons us from the inside, influencing our behaviour in a negative way.

There is one thing though; one glorious and amazing thing that turns out to be exactly what it says on the tin.  No, wait, it’s actually more.  It is so much more.

Salvation…

…the saving of the soul from sin and its consequences.

This is something big and to delve into the absolute meaning of salvation is going to make my head spin, in all honesty.  But what I do know is that my salvation through Jesus Christ is abundantly more than I could ever imagine or think.  I “purchased” the decision to give everything I am, everything I worry about and everything I dream about over to the One and Only God.  And in return I received the “free gift” of eternal life, freedom from sin and the love of God; the One who has my best interest at heart.  The One who won’t let any harm come to me.

Forget about that free bag you get when you buy a specified quantity of cosmetic products.  Forget about the free hands-free set you get when you purchase a new phone.  Forget about the 11 other songs on that CD that turned out to be just as good as the one I liked in the beginning.

The most important *Free Gift With Purchase you will ever receive is the gift of eternal life from a God that loves you unreservedly and unconditionally.

Feeling The Moment

We all agree that life is made up of a succession of moments; or at least, that's how I see it.  Someone clever, who used to be in my life quite a long time ago, used to say: "A moment is over once you've thought about it."

To be perfectly honest, I've never really allowed myself to think about that phrase too much.  I guess I'm scared that my brain might cease up from trying to over-think and over-analyze it.  Like trying to divide by zero; we all know that the universe will implode, and for the sake of the greater good I figured I better not risk it!  So, I'm sorry to disappoint, but you're going to have to figure that one out for yourself.

Because here's the thing: if the moment is over once it has crossed your mind, doesn't that mean that life is made up of a lot of lost and fleeting moments?  Which kind of makes me wonder if life's moments are supposed to be slippery, lost and mostly gone.  A little negative, don't you think?  I mean, it makes me feel like I have absolutely no control over my moments, which I highly doubt to be true.

Now, before you label me a control-freak, understand one thing: I absolutely, without a doubt am one.  Just like everyone else on this planet.  We all wish to be in control of certain - if not all - aspects of our lives.  But this is actually not the point I'm driving towards.

Quite some time ago I read a very interesting article written by very clever individuals in which they speculate what it would be like if we were able to live forever, or at the very least, a few hundred years.  We've all toyed with the idea of having more time at our disposal.  Let's think about Vampires (bear with me) and their ability to live for hundreds, sometimes thousands, of years.  They are able to learn to play every instrument imaginable, obtain every degree they wish, speak all the languages of the world, should that be their desire.  All because they have so much time on their hands.

But in the article mentioned above, the very clever individuals come to the conclusion that it wouldn't be so much fun to live hundreds of years.  Why?  Because our perception of time changes.  Think about it; when you were 8 years old your days stretched before you in endless moments of fun, sun, games and ice-cream.  The older you get, the less time you think you have.  Your days feel shorter, the years fly by and before you know it you haven't even found the time to make arrangements for your retirement.  The longer you live, the quicker time flies by; so, if you live to be 200 or even 300 years old, time would be a fleeting and unobtainable blur.

What is my point, then?  Maybe it's a good thing that we only get to live, on average, 70 to 80 years. It's difficult knowing that you won't live forever, because it's scary.  And losing someone is such a stark reminder that life is fleeting in the grand scheme of things.  But don't let that overwhelm you. I believe we appreciate life more when we know we don't have too much of it.  And I also believe it is possible to slow down time.  Yes, yes I do!

Make the decision to not let your time be stolen by things, people or moments that force you to rush.  We all know what these are in our lives; it's different for everyone.  I've said it before and I'll say it again:  Slow down.  Walk slower.  Pause somewhere.  Open your eyes.  See things clearly.  

Walk.  Slower.