A Blink of an Eye

The Christmas season reminds Anni Harry of how quickly the world can change. This season, slow down and ponder the gifts God has given you.

The world always seems to change in the blink of an eye. As we celebrate the Christmas season, we are reminded at just how much the world changes in the blink of an eye.

Too often, mothers are told by well-meaning friends (and, sometimes even strangers), “Don’t blink … time flies!” Seasoned mothers impart the knowledge that their own lives changed in the blink of an eye.

In Salvation History, a young woman’s “yes,” a seeming blink of an eye, changed the world. A young husband’s dream, another blink of an eye for the outsider-looking-in, further changed the world.

It could be argued that the world is changed simply in that manner – a combination of small blinks of the eye.

This week, we are deep in the throes of celebrating Christmas. The secular world around us is packing up Christmas decorations and flipping the calendar to the upcoming New Year celebrations. The world around us is intent on ushering in the next major celebration.

Yet, there is something to finding time to savor the little moments … those blinks of the eye.

family celebrating with festive headbands

In the midst of the Christmas season, now is the time to stop and breathe in the sights, the sounds, and the joy of our Lord.

When we look at the Gospel readings for this week, we are introduced to the prophetess, Anna, and the righteous and devout man, Simeon. Both of those two individuals would go to the Temple to pray, in faithful waiting, for the coming of the Messiah. Then, in the blink of an eye, their waiting was rewarded as He was ushered through the doors in the arms of His blessed mother.

So, too, does God move in the blinks of our eyes.

When we read the Creation story in Genesis, we get the impression that the world was created over the course of “days.” Yet, when we sit and pray over what eternity is, and that God lives outside of time, the creation story is again, for God, a blink of an eye.

He created the world … and everything in it … good.

Yet, in the blink of an eye, life can also move slowly … tenderly … deliberately.

Everything and everyone God has created was tenderly loved by our Father. He took great care and great pains to breathe His love into each of our souls at the moment of conception. When He created the world, He knew you would be sitting here, millennia after the creation of the world, reading these words.

God knew you would need this gentle, loving reminder that in the busy moments of creation, He was already planning for you.

At the end of the work of creation, He sat back to marvel at His creation, acknowledging that the work of His hands was good.

God acknowledged, and still acknowledges, that you are good.

mom and little girl playing near Christmas tree

In this Christmas season, we may be tempted to jump right in to the planning and preparation phase of the next major celebration. But, this year, dear reader, take a breath and look around.

Admire the decorations that still adorn the house.

Delight in the laughter of family regaling the memories of years past.

Indulge in the sweets that you might only give yourself green light to eat once a year.

Sit back and admire what is good in your life.

Thank God for the little moments – those blinks of your eye – that have unfolded in your life without your full attention.

The stressors of the holiday season can get the best of us.

Yet, time and again, we see that God waits, patiently, for us to turn to Him and invite Him into our daily routine.

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The world around us is intent on ushering in the next major celebration. Yet, there is something to finding time to savor the little moments. #catholicmom

As the Christmas season continues joyfully forward, and we celebrate the Wise Men’s visit to the manger during Epiphany, and the Baptism of our Lord, allow yourself to celebrate those small moments … those blinks of your eyes.

God blinked, and the world was created.

Mary said yes, and our Salvation was a possibility.

Joseph dreamt, and our Salvation was kept safe.

Parents blink, and their children are grown.

So don’t shy away from slowing down, offering a slow blink, and inviting God to move in your own blink of an eye.

Allow God to change the world, and by moving with your acceptance and welcome, in the blink of your life.

20211230 AHarry 4