A Mist

I love cold weather.
People go down to Florida to get away from the cold; I embrace it.
I love to walk in the cold.
I always feel more alive.

I have my walking coat that I have had for years.
The zipper pull actually broke off last year.
I had it replaced at the dry cleaners.
I could not bear to replace that coat, since I love it like a worn pair of jeans.

This week has been quite cold in the morning.
Not cold for the winter months, but cold for the autumn.
I checked the weather on my phone before I set out.
The temperature was in the mid-thirties.

No hood or hat is necessary for me.
I’ll save those items for when the weather is in the twenties, teens, or single digits.
I had my phone in hand with my pop-socket on the back pulled out for a better grip.
I clicked on the podcast I listen to when I walk each day.

I was invigorated.
I could see my breath before me.
I loved every minute of my walk.
By the end of the two and a half miles, my body was warmed up.

As I came into the kitchen, I got a text on my phone.
There was condensation on my screen.
I could see it and feel it as I tried to swipe my phone.
My phone screen was like a window in winter.

Condensation appears on my eyeglasses when I come in from the cold.
It also happens when I reach down to take something out of the hot oven.
When my children were little they would laugh at the sight.
Mommy, your glasses steamed up, they would say.

I enjoy having an egg with fruit on the side for breakfast.
It may be a hard belied egg or a scrambled egg depending on what I feel like that morning.
My favorite; however, is a poached egg.
I even have a small poached egg pan that I use, which guarantees that my egg is just right.

I noticed the same thing happened when I removed the lid.
I laid the lid aside on my cooktop.
I turned the mid section over a bowl, so the egg could fall into it with ease.
When I turned back to remove the lid from the cooktop, a circle of condensation was there.

I watched as the circle got smaller and smaller until it disappeared.
The outer edges seemed to shrink towards the center.
What had been a perfect circle, was now misshapen.
Within minutes, it was gone.

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil.  If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them. (James 4:13-17)

What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
I thought of that verse as I watched the circle on my cooktop disappear.
I remembered the condensation on my phone screen.
I remembered my glasses “steaming up” when I took something out of the oven.

We should be humbled when we read those words and ponder them.
They are not meant to cause us to despair.
They are meant to be a wake up call for us to realize our fragility.
They are meant to remind us that we are not immortal; that we are finite creatures.

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. (Romans 12:3)

We can become puffed up over our accomplishments.
We can become prideful when we think of ourselves more highly than we ought.
We can imagine all the good we will do for many years.
We can envision our life well into the future.

Perhaps.
Perhaps not.
We are a mist.
We are much like the condensation on my phone screen, cooktop, and eyeglasses.

If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.
We should say those words with careful thought.
We are a mist that exists by the grace of God.
John Wesley seemed to understand this truth.

Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.

We know that mist vanishes with the sun.
We know that one day we will vanish like the mist.
Let’s do all the good we can, to all the people we can, for as long as we can.
What a difference that would make in our world.

2 responses to “A Mist”

1. My father sometimes ended his sentences with, “God willing.” As a young girl, I didn’t fully consider why he said that, but events in my life have shown me how precious time is and we don’t control it! So, I will try to follow John Wesley’s advice in my life and be my best for as long as God gives me.
   Thank you, Gina, for sharing these Whispers. Karen

   Reply

   • Karen,
     How wonderful that this Whisper brought to mind a memory of your father. God is sovereign over our time and our schedules, so it is only fitting to acknowledge that truth as we make our plans.
     Blessings,
     Gina

     Reply