So God says to Job, “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundations?”

Care to come up with your own answer to that?

Another question that comes to my mind is, “Where will you be when your dust settles at the end of 90 years or so?” (I’m an optimist about longevity.) How much is 90 years in the life of the universe so far? Squat, right? Personally I think it’s kind of important not to “piddle it away,” as my mom might say. But equally important is to have a relaxed attitude about what I’ve accomplished so far and what might be left to do. Pay attention. Keep at it. Things will unfold.

Friends invited us to spend a vacation with them at their timeshare on Kaua’i, one of the most scenic (and relaxed) of the Hawaiian Islands. There, in view of the blue Pacific surrounding my little perch on the porch, I got to thinking about how those islands are really mountaintops poking up out of the water. When did that happen?

How very little time humanity has been a part of this planet. In the light of Earth’s own creativity, I’m less than a blip. Better enjoy everything I can!

 
KAUA’I
 

Underwater Himalaya
heaved up from the ocean floor–
peak, plateau, and sandy playa
leagues from any mainland shore.
 
Human never saw the boiling
lava build these ragged heights,
never viewed the vapor coiling
upward in primeval nights,
 
never felt the urgent rumble
of this island at its birth.
Fragile flesh, be ever humble
in your blink of time on earth.
 
You are not the final reason
for the air, the seed, the bird.
Brief indeed may be the season
of the number and the word.
 

Barbara Loots