On Keeping the Faith

Uncut footage. News before you see it. Dramas, catastrophes, disasters. Figures milling around, strolling through, passing in and out, stretching the time. Flowing through the narrative. Compression, containment, closure will meet the case. When asked “what have you done?” you think back point to point, bridging spaces. Asked what you’re doing, you come up with a story, with conditions (past), expectations (future), judgements (now). Are we among the extras, simply keeping the faith?

Maybe we’re not the hero here. Maybe not the victim, villain or victor. We might be the swing, moving from role to role. We could be one of the crew, setting up causes and contexts for things to come to pass. In fantasy, we’d see how we contribute to the scene. Are we being the best drug addict we can possibly be? Does our embarrassing child occupy our wholehearted attention? Have we successfully lost our latest job? Are we pursuing arts, sports, or meditation, somewhere in the midst of 10,000 hours of practice?

We are the matter, not the masters, of the scene. Every step has purpose, whether or not we change direction. We’re keeping the faith. Present among the presences. Following the Way. 

On Hastening On

The days, they say, are hastening on. The Queen has reigned for seventy years, her Coronation a blink away. The golden city rebuilds, remaking its past into new shapes. So many of my friends awake to news of dire disease. Things which have been brewing for ages boil over as new facts. That’s the value of history: perhaps a different solution would work better next time.

Procrastination, one of my vices, may be one of the deadlier sins. It’s connected to consumption — of opinion, technology, media — all hastening on to disappear. We try to hold to present concern and it slips from our hands. Why need to know so much? Since our time is literally measured in heartbeats, how much do we follow our hearts?

Do we have time for resentment, anxiety, fear? Should we waste time on addictions and avoidance? Should we embrace the time? It flees as we reach out for it; it decides for us; it crumbles our solid illusions. Change is both constant and sudden. And so, long life to Her Majesty, who has given all her days. Our days are hastening on as foretold from our first breath. Do something simple today.