BY FR RON ROLHEISER
A friend of mine jokingly says that when she dies she wants this epitaph on her gravestone: There was always something!
And there always is! All of us appreciate her frustration. Invariably, there's always something, big or small, that casts a shadow and somehow keeps us from fully entering the present moment and appreciating its richness.
There is always some anxiety, some worry about something that we should have done or should be doing, some unpaid bill, some concern about what we need to face tomorrow, some lingering heartache, some concern about our health or the health of another, some hurt that is still burning, or some longing for someone who is absent that mitigates our joy.
There's always something, some loss, some hurt, some anxiety, some bitterness, some jealousy, some obsession, or some headache, that is forever draining the present moment of its joy.
Henri Nouwen once gave a very simple, poignant expression to this: "Our life," he writes. "is a time in which sadness and joy kiss each other at every moment.”
There’s always something (ronrolheiser.com)