One day at a time

The cosmos-complex but not chaotic- gives a clue into how our daily lives should evolve. Look at the sky on a summer night, and you will observe our galaxy, the Milky way-a portion of the cosmos interspersed with stars. That is, of course, no news. It will interest you, though, to know that there is some underlying order in the layout of these arrays of stars, albeit not effortlessly conspicuous to the mind. It is beautiful to behold every star continuously tracing its path without fail! The order or patterns of each unique star is responsible for the overall beauty of the cosmos. Each star staying where it ought to makes the bigger puzzle fit perfectly.

An account by NASA: It’s normal for us to find patterns in natural arrangements of things. For example, most people can imagine they see faces or other familiar objects in some clouds or rock formations. It’s the same with the stars. Ancient observers, without the benefit of our modern understanding of the nature of stars and space, saw these patterns and thought they might be important symbols. Cultures throughout history have created different names and descriptions for the arrangements of stars. The constellations most of us are familiar with were created by people living in the Mediterranean and the Middle East. Many of the stories of the constellations tell us about the myths and legends of the people who gave them names thousands of years ago, but they tell us nothing about the stars themselves.

If stars never changed, then constellations wouldn’t change. But the stars, including the Sun, travel in their own separate orbits through the Milky Way galaxy. The stars move along with fantastic speeds, but they are so far away that it takes a long time for their motion to be visible to us. You can understand this by moving your finger in front of your eyes. Even when you move it very slowly, it may appear to move faster than a speeding jet that is many miles away.

Beyond the beauty, the complex structure of the galaxy is stunning and should serve us as manuals for finding order, and not chaos, in difficult situations.

Everything around, from our vast galaxy of stars to the most minor atomic structures, clearly spells out the word “complex:” And against this backdrop, we, as mortals, are often faced with problems that appear to require immortal abilities to solve. Sometimes, we are faced with financial hardship or some health crisis. Occasionally, our problem is the illusion of being caught up in a problem. In all propensity, at one time or the other, one will face a situation that one has never encountered before or be required to travel a path where there are no trailblazers. Be that as it may, we must find order in our life, just like the cosmos has some order. We will often be handed victory when we acknowledge, recognize, and employ this order. Conversely, when we fail to understand and, by extension, muddle up life’s inherent order, we become overwhelmed. Life comes complex, but our anxieties, worries, and despair, and not just life itself, create the chaos we often experience.

What do you do when you don’t know what to do? How do you face a difficult situation or seemingly impossible circumstances? First, you have to admit your dilemma as early as you can. But don’t stop there. Instead, find solutions to your problem, taking one step at a time. Yes, one step at a time. One step at a time, and you will achieve what would instead take a lifetime to accomplish in a short time. John Bytheway said, “Inch by inch, life’s a cinch. Yard by yard, life’s hard,” and I couldn’t agree less.

Trying to figure out life all at once will be overwhelming and will often end in disaster. Anyone who could succeed at solving life’s puzzles by the stretch of a thought, which rarely happens, perhaps, could also glory momentarily in seemingly possessing omniscient-like abilities. Unfortunately, in real life, mortals do not have omniscient-like capabilities. In living out life, you will realize that, sometimes, your hypothesis is wrong, and your assumptions are oversimplified. The world you imagined is perturbed; the world you see is the variant of the world you expected. What could you do than upping your game and adapting on the go in this kind of situation? Instead of being overwhelmed by the complexity of your circumstances, try finding out order, patterns, or strategic steps to take. Always remember: Inch by inch, life’s a cinch. Yard by yard, life’s hard.

A poem

Brick upon brick,

You can build a shelter

Penny upon penny

You can build a fortune

It is trickles upon trickles of raindrops

That makes torrents upon torrents of floodgates

Put in the efforts, little by little

You can then hope to win the title

For an account by NASA, see:https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/review/dr-marc-space/constellations.html#:~:text=The%20stars%20move%20along%20with,that%20is%20many%20miles%20away.

Depths before heights

There are depths before heights. And indeed, the hope of resurrection is an offspring of an event called death. It is when you die that we can expect you to live. However, I am beginning to sense that you detest the word death. Your muscles tighten, and your teeth clench at the picture death brings you. Be relaxed. I don’t want you to die. I am only pointing out a fact: Life starts from death. I hope you get it now. It is such a paradox.

Come to think of it. To grow maize, its grain has to be buried in the ground. Then, the sprouting, the shooting forth of the blades. You can see it. You are even seeing something different, I guess. You are seeing a fully budded maize, and your thoughts are already going into how that will end up in your buccal cavity. It’s good. But I want you to ask yourself: where did this miracle begin? How is it that I can expect some kind of nourishment now? Well, you should have figured out the answer by now: some seeds were buried in the soil. That was how the whole story started.

What happens to someone the whole time they are buried? Obscurity! No one sees a buried man, except by illusions of course. That moment you are buried, that moment you are experiencing death, you don’t get noticed. You don’t have to worry about that. Nobody nominates you for Miss World, nobody invites you to the treat of the who-is-who. You are just all by yourself. Does that truth hurt? It doesn’t have to, actually. It’s just a normal phenomenon.

The very essence of depth is to afford you the stability your desired height requires. It makes you last. You don’t want to be a nine-hour-wonder, I believe. So, don’t jump the guns. Stay in line.

And here is a profound truth: the very grave where death is consummated is where resurrection begins. And the brilliance that resurrection exudes, who can stand it? That brilliance is ever-increasing, upwards tending, and never diminishing.

What is all this death stuff? Find a purpose to live for, avoid distractions, and put all of your focus on that purpose. That’s the tripartite summary of death. Be single-eyed. Very shortly, you will cross the line between death and life. And once you are in the folds of life, you are far from the suction of death.

Take some time to die! And you will live again!