Beloved,

Approximately two minutes—that is how long the Kentucky Derby lasts. Two minutes. For what is called The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports, it is over almost as quickly as it begins. Two minutes can hold a lot.

While we are thinking about time, let me invite you to shift perspective for a moment. Scientists estimate the Earth is 4.54 billion years old. If all of Earth’s history were compressed into a single calendar year, modern human life would appear only in the final minutes before midnight on December 31. 

Think about that.

All the laughter and tears.

All the hellos and good-byes.

All the I-dos and no-mores.

All the griefs we have carried and joys we have scarcely known how to hold.

All of it—within a kind of shared two minutes.

And our own lives? A breath within a breath.

Yet even in the blink of a moment, there is so much to life. So much beauty. So much grace. So much we can miss if we are not paying attention.

When Fr. Roger and I are sitting in the den, each minding our own business, he will suddenly point at the television and say, “Oh look, look, look, Andrew! Geez—you missed it!” I can only turn my head to the TV so often, I tell him, usually while rolling my eyes.

And yet… I sometimes wonder whether God says the same thing to us.

Look.

Pay attention.

Do not miss this.

Perhaps that is part of the spiritual life. Henri-Frédéric Amiel wrote, “Life is short. We do not have much time to gladden the hearts of those who travel the way with us. So be swift to love, and make haste to be kind.”

May gives us many ways to practice exactly that at St. Paul’s. We will welcome Joseph Reese, our new intern, as he continues discerning a priestly vocation. We will tend the memorial garden, honor Alan Johnson’s life, celebrate our preschool graduates, gather for a parish picnic and council, and soon lift our hearts toward Pentecost.

In a life so brief, perhaps the holy work is not complicated: welcome one another, honor the saints, celebrate the young, share your story, and make room for the Spirit. Live your faith. Share your story in the spirit of Pentecost. After all, this is how the teaching of Jesus has always traveled—person to person, heart to heart, generation to generation—until somehow, by grace, it has reached even us. 

In our shared two minutes, may we not miss what matters. The Derby may be the most exciting two minutes in sports. But these two minutes we share in Christ may be the holiest gift of all.

Be swift to love.

Make haste to be kind.

And keep walking the faith journey.

Faithfully,

Fr. Andrew