To Die Empty

Aluminum foil our plates, fingers our utensils, and fire-roasted meat, potatoes, carrots and onions. Lawn chairs, tree stumps, and logs pulled close to the crackling warmth of a campfire. Shadows cast from the flames dancing against the thick woods coiling all around. Bright stars and moon sneaking through gaps in the autumn leaves. Homework left at school, cellphones without service, and the fast pace of civilized life put on hold. Seventeen grad and undergrad college students, men and nature coming together for fellowship.

Life goals, one by one, given words and thrown into the space between us brothers where flames lick and whip and point upwards:

"to graduate"
"to work with youth"
"to run a marathon"
"to be a good husband"
"to get into a good Grad school"
"to run a godly youth ministry"
"to complete a triathlon"
"to be a good father"
"to travel the world"
"to be a foster parent"
"to hike the Appalachian Trail"
"to provide for my family"
...
"to die empty"

All possessions, all ambitions, all emotions--everything poured out.

Everyone quiet, reflective, staring into a pit of now only ashes. And a silence occupying the space previously filled with words and words and so many words.

"to die empty"

"The feeling remains that God is on the journey, too." --Teresa of Avila

Sir Isaac Newton is said to have avowed that he has spent his entire life merely picking up sea shells along the shore of the vast, unexplored ocean.

Addison Road has these great lyrics saying, "What do I know of You who spoke me into motion? Where have I even stood but the shore along your ocean?"

******************************

The universe can't just be a home for us, because if it is, it's way over-sized, and as I walk alone and look up at the dark infinite above me, all I feel is how very small I am, how this is all so much bigger than me. 

Known as the 'Eye of God'

The Whirlpool Galaxy, also known as 'The Darling of Astronomy.'
By the way, see that bright mass on the right? We used to think this
was all one big galaxy, but now we know these are two separate galaxies.

My personal favorite, Pleiades

Our own not-so-humble abode, the Milky Way Galaxy. I won't pretend this is a
legitimate picture. We're kind of inside of this thing, so it's hard for us to get real
pictures.  What amazes me is how big it is. We put so much importance on our lives.
In reality, our solar system isn't even in the center of our own galaxy.

* Shout out to the only astronomist I know, Addie Jo.