Out of the Pulpit: Whether a year is crazy or calm, moments keep passing


By Rev. Martin L. Dunne III | Contributing Columnist

Here’s a phrase that elicits various reactions: “Time flies.”

I remember at the very end of third grade, our PE coach surprised my classmates and I with access to the playground which was meant only for second grade students or younger. 

Rev. Dunne

While we were all thrilled to be enjoying the slides and swings again, the profound feelings of nostalgia were more thrilling, as it had been one whole year since we’d been there. Our coach couldn’t help but laugh as she heard us reminiscing of a time “so very long ago.”

For a third grader, one year is roughly a whopping 1/8th of your entire life [including the first few years, for which most have little to no memories to draw from]. So, of course, one year feels like an eternity. To 1989 me, 1988 felt like forever ago. But let’s be honest: Regardless of how old we are, 2019 feels like forever ago, considering how much our world’s been turned upside-down. 

But whether a year is crazy or calm, moments keep passing.

The most sobering daily reminder I receive is that, whether we like it or not, “time flies.”  However, I believe these reminders are not meant to scare us. The exact opposite is true. The reminders are meant to joyfully motivate us to never waste one single moment, as the present moment is all that we know we have. 

If last year’s events didn’t drive that home, I’m not sure what could.

Sometimes the most important things we need to see are hiding in plain sight. They are right in front of us but the circumstances, and often frenzied-challenges of life, are preventing us from recognizing it, never mind how to best incorporate it. 

Journaling may feel like a chore, especially with all the other demands in your life. But that is precisely why we all need to journal in one way or another. It helps ensure we are handling everything else in the best way possible. Simply put, because journaling helps ensure we are living our best, it can’t help but ensure the healthiest lifestyle possible, and the strongest immune system possible.

These factors are critical in maintaining healthy, peaceful mindfulness which enhances the positive, perpetual cycle of persevering towards our best regardless of what the external circumstances of life may be throwing at us.

Journaling contributes to this at both macroscopic and microscopic levels. For example, journaling may be a natural guide to resolving to take the steps we need towards ideal physical health. But, more importantly, journaling helps us to realize that physical well-being is at the service of our greater, emotional well-being. 

When we are feeling physically better, our ability to think and reflect and connect and resolve in delightful clarity enhances manifold. This allows us to rest in the knowledge that, to the best of our ability, we are not wasting a second of our lives. We are ensuring nothing beyond our control derails the responses which are always meant to be within our control. Our health and immunity can’t help but benefit from that.

How to journal is going to look different for everyone. Writing anything down not only fortifies its internalization in the memory, it also allows us to slow down and process just exactly what these realizations mean: How they connect to everything else in life. That’s why I try to always have a journal with me everywhere I go.

However, I also dedicate time each day where I can journal, and review other journal reflections in a distraction-free way [as much as possible] and place of silence and prayer.   

The Rev. Martin L. Dunne III is a Pompano Beach native and author of several children’s books along with the self-help book, “What Could a Priest Know About Marriage?” He is an ordained minister for St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church in Boca Raton. Prior to seminary, he spent a decade working in the “real world” and was active in several business and volunteer endeavors. Visit fathermartinbooks.com for more information on Rev. Martin and his books.

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