Fr. Don's Daily Reflection
Famous for songs like “Margaritaville,” Jimmy Buffett responded to the suggestion that he might be the world's greatest party person. “I was! I had a great time! Then people start dying, you know. And having nervous breakdowns. And then you go, 'Wait a minute here'" (Rolling Stone, 1996). His comments, of course, are familiar: death, disease and tragedy bring us all up short. But the timing is interesting. Suddenly, at this late date, we say to ourselves: “People are dying and having nervous breakdowns.” “People” here seems to mean people I went to school with or who were in my wedding or with whom I played basketball. Others’ deaths, disease and tragedy get to us when they hit close.
Ultimately even these have a tough time competing with the impact of “my” death, “my” illness, “my” personal tragedy. They tell us as they told Buffett, “Wait a minute here.” The lesson is obvious and old but here in mid-November is as good a time as any to pause. After a summer that may have brought some relaxation, we're back up to our ears in deadlines. Am I shortchanging these people around me who are or will be dying, getting sick, having breakdowns? Can I put aside my work, my worries, my ambitions enough to be with husband or wife, children, friends? “Be Here Now” was the title a sixties guru gave to his book celebrating an insight he derived from Hinduism. However we come to it, we need to “be here now.”