Meaningful Moments

“lt is always surprising how small a part of life
is taken up by meaningful moments.
Most often they are over before they start,
although they cast a light on the future,
and make the person
who originated them 

… unforgettable.”

The last passage in the movie, “Anna and the King” which I only just finished watching an hour ago.

Those small, but ever so meaningful moments in life that pass all too quickly, but which leave an indelible mark in one’s memory, and, ultimately, on one’s soul.And I think it has been as true for me, as with any man or woman who ever breathed, and lived, and moved on this planet.

Hearing and heeding the Gospel call. Kneeling at an old altar. Pleading my case before the throne of God. My sins forgiven. Life everlasting.

Marveling as a mother and her teenaged daughter dismounted their vehicle, and engaged one another in an ad-lib race towards the portico of the church. Neck in neck. Neither giving, nor asking an inch. Mounting the front porch and slapping the outer doors; with not so much as a millisecond separating their arrival.

Standing next to my unresponsive father, as he lay on a hospital gurney; a noticeable lump on his forehead; having just fallen and succumbed to a stroke. My mama’s words. 

“Henry, I should have gone before you. Now you can meet the mother whom you never knew.”

And in like manner standing at my mother’s bedside; a hellacious death rattle emanating from her throat. A moment of grace, as my mother awoke for a brief few minutes, and spoke to her children. Only to return to the status quo, and depart this world shortly thereafter.

A once in a lifetime experience, as an angel manifested before me, lingered a moment, and was gone as quickly as he (or she, or it) appeared.

A girl named ‘Jamie,’ a waitress in California, three decades hence, who dressed and looked the part of “Anne of Green Gables,” and who, before we left the premises, agreed to pose for a photo. Remembering to pray for her. Wondering where she is today.

An invitation to an unmarried intern and my spiritual daughter to join me in a thirty second waltz; devoid of music. Taking her by the hand and giving her a little spin. A virtual prophecy, for before we departed, I expressed, 

“May you be dancing with someone so much nearer, and dearer than me; this time next year.”

(And indeed, in the course of a year her Prince Charming appeared. And lest I leave you guessing, reader, they married, and bore a child).

Time and space would fail me to describe the myriad of people and events which combine to cause our lives to be as singular as they are.

“lt is always surprising how small a part of life
is taken up by meaningful moments.”


By William McDonald, PhD. Excerpt from "(Mc)Donald's Daily Diary," Vol. 37. Copyright pending

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