Psalm 62: “In you alone is my soul at rest. My help comes from You.”

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 mean tpeople 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 of relaxation, we're 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.”

Psalm 27: “I believe I shall see the Lord’s goodness / in the land of the living.

Wait for the Lord; be strong; / be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord!”

Reply to Fr. Don at: DTalafous@csbsju.edu

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