One of my favorite newly-discovered places in our diocese is Natural Bridge State Park in Sauk County. I often take visitors there because of the beautiful drive, the opportunity to take a short hike in the woods, and to explore the wonder of the natural bridge carved from centuries of wind and rain.
I am most fascinated by a mysterious cave in the park which contained the traces of the earliest human presence in central North America.
Discovered by archaeologists in the 1950s, ash remnants of ancient fires in this cave point to the strong probability that Paleo-Indians inhabited this cave 12,000 years ago, as they hunted mastodons.
A great blessing
As a lover of history, I find the presence of such artifacts right here in our diocese to be a great blessing and a source of deep reflection.
Imagine. Ten thousand years before Christ, people were living in our area, hunting now-extinct animals, surviving in conditions that we would find unimaginable.
I ponder the wonder of God’s creation, His patience in allowing human history to unfold and the brevity of time’s passage in light of eternity.
Twelve thousand years is a remarkably long time which we cannot fully grasp, especially in a culture that measures things in seconds, yet it is simply a blink of the eye, a wisp of smoke, a snap of the fingers, in light of eternity.
Meditating on creation
When I was five years old, I remember asking my mother who created God? If God had made everything, who made Him?
My mother told me that God always was and always will be, and no matter how hard I tried to figure it out, I never would be able to.
Three theology degrees and 53 years later, I can affirm that she was right, of course.
Think for a minute about the eternity of God. Go back a trillion years and God was there; fast forward a trillion years and God will still be.
Forever after the sun has burnt out and the world we know is a cold and barren wasteland, God and the Kingdom of Heaven will endure.
Meditating on these unfathomable mysteries should lead us to practice our faith with greater fervor and intensity of purpose.
The ultimate question before us is not what I should make for dinner tonight, or what is my plan after college, or what are my financial goals for retirement.
The compelling and absolute question is: Where do I want to be 10,000 years from now? Of course, we want to be with God in the Kingdom of Heaven.
So, that being true, how do I live my remarkably short earthly existence in such a committed way of holiness, faith, and virtue, trusting in the mercy and power of Jesus, that I will live with God for eternity?
These deep musings and questions relativize all of the details of my life.
So many things that I worry and fret about ultimately do not matter that much, in light of eternity.
What people think of us, our past failures, concerns about the future, present difficulties and crosses, all of these things which can distract, depress, or overwhelm us only have meaning to the extent that they are leading us closer to God.
When we face a particular problem, we should ask ourselves: What is this, in light of eternity? Old-time preachers often focused on the four last things: Heaven, Hell, death, and judgment.
Pondering our ultimate end and purpose puts everything in proper perspective.
Continuing to live
Contextualizing our lives in light of the eternal nature of God does not relieve us of the responsibility of embracing our daily duties, facing and fixing problems, confronting the unpleasant vagaries of our human limitations. Not at all.
God calls us to live the details of our particular vocation with generosity and perseverance.
We cannot just sit around and wait for eternity to dawn.
But, placing all of our efforts to be holy, virtuous, responsible, and good in God’s loving hands, realizing that we are simply pilgrims here on earth passing through, that our eternal home is not here, can give us peace, serenity, and trust when the storms of life hit us with particular fury.
All of this is passing.
In light of eternity, we will be standing in front of Christ very soon and He will ask us what we did with the life that he gave us.
Did we spend our love, talents, treasure, and time serving God and others or did we simply live complacently for ourselves?
Today is the opportune moment to grow in our awareness of the urgency of God’s call and the brevity of time.
St. Teresa of Avila quipped that this earthly life is like one night in a bad inn, and then eternity will dawn forever.
I like her perspective which is why I chose her prayer for the back of the card commemorating my installation here two years ago: Let nothing disturb you; let nothing frighten you. All things are passing. God never changes. Patience obtains all things. Nothing is wanting to him who possesses God. God alone suffices.