Finite

adjective

1. 

having limits or bounds.

"every computer has a finite amount of memory"

synonyms:		limited, not infinite, subject to limitations, restricted; More

2. 

(of a verb form) having a specific tense, number, and person.

Some of you never knew the world without instant connection.  A screen that lights up and allows you to go just about wherever your mind can imagine. Video chat with a friend in Bangladesh, sending memes through the universe on a cloud of information, communication and connection.  Or at least the semblance of these things.  And inside all of this connectivity I find myself lost within a fantasy that just isn’t always the truth.

We can seem invincible. Not lost in a sea of distraction. But aren’t we really?  I know I am.  And I waste so many hours in search for truths that the internet, Google, Microsoft, Instagram, Facebook all just seem to forget, if they ever knew them at all. We need touch.  Breath.  Deep conversations and spontaneous laughter that can’t be felt, held, or even truly accurately heard through the best iPhone XXWZ22.  We replace our hearts with endless rabbit holes of nothingness.

I am finite.  No matter the spiritual persuasion you hold to… 

I will die.

And so will you.

We weren’t given eternity here. We were given time.  It is the best and hardest gift to manage.  And for those like me who have the dreaded ADD/ADHD, it is insanity when you find yourself losing hours to meaningless searches, ‘friend’ requests, Cat-memes (what the F*@k!).  I lose myself to fantasy and come up empty.  The time slips away.  And time isn’t something that we can go buy from Amazon or Walmart.  It is gone quickly and vanishes if we don’t leave it with a mark that keeps those moments rooted in our heads.  

I’ve seen this as I’ve left all of you.  I still check Facebook, and I’m thankful for being able to take a peek into your lives.  But I’m just scratching the surface with 1,000 people that I may or may not know very well at all.  I long for face to face.  That feeling of being in the same room with someone and hearing the subtle nuances of their tone. The trembling of a voice in pain. The guffaw that stops the entire room at some seedy bar.  The hand that reaches out to comfort and to let you know that there is still real human connection available.

So, as I write this, I’m sitting 2600 miles from a little girl who starts college on Monday.  She’s in a pretty good place.  I’ve talked with her every day and I think she’s gonna be ok. She’s headstrong and stubborn like both of her parents.  And she stands as one of the best things that I’ve ever been a part of.  I had the privilege of spending the last three and a half years within earshot.  Close enough to hear sobbing when a boy wasn’t good enough, and to open my home to the many friends that would come to hang out.  I am a blessed man for that time, even though it’s changed in the last month.

The moments you share and the memories you make with others are so vital to who we are and what we were created to be.  Don’t get lost in a world that is so full of ‘likes’ that you miss out on something really special.

I sat at a table at my favorite Mexican restaurant with someone special.  I begged her to give me 7 weeks - the time that was left before I left to come to Oregon. Those few weeks rank up there with the greatest in all history!  At least for me.  

We are finite.  

Time here will end.

What are you going to do with it?

Live deep.  Connect.  And be.