Dear Readers,
I write to tell you of the most extraordinary experience I encountered just this morning. I was going about my daily chores when something caught the corner of my eye. I looked toward the window and suddenly, as if on cue, a dozen yellow butterflies fluttered by. They popped like popcorn and danced a waltz. They flitted and flirted with the flowers. But they seemed to move in unison, as if they were one. And then as suddenly as they appeared, they were gone—so quickly, that for a moment, I wondered if I had imagined them. But it was such a perfectly splendid moment that it pierced my heart. I caught my breath and paused. I was in the midst of “the perfect moment.”
We all have hundreds of these in our lifetime. Moments when our present troubles are pushed far away as we behold a glimpse of something close to perfect. It may be a sleeping child, a phrase of music, or a glimpse of the full moon on a clear, crisp night. Something that takes us out of ourselves, and for a brief moment, we are lifted out of the daily routine into unexpected realms of light and beauty. For an instant, we are in the presence of God, and nothing else matters. All of our worries and troubles fall away and we are aware of only the perfection that is before us. It is breathtaking and soul shaking. And then, the moment is gone. We are back on earth—but we are not the same.
We must learn to recognize these moments, for we all have them, though many of us no longer recognize them, or know them by their proper name. The more we look for these moments, the more they seem to occur. And each time they occur, our souls are made deeper, our hearts fuller. And we carry that fullness into the lives of the people we encounter and the world is made a little better for it.
Look for the perfect moments, dear reader, and dwell on them. Drink them in like water. Seek them out and share them. And they will enrich and bless you and those you love, all the days of your life. For life is not measured by the breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
