What matters

Based on the service on Thursday (see below), I spoke with Bogha Frois on Friday. My thought, as I relayed it to her, was that death (as it always does) tends to focus one's mind wonderfully - especially in this case, where in so many ways, the impact of what is left behind seems small.

Her thought in the matter was that she had been confronting this very issue. She finds herself bogged down in the politics of work, and wishes that she could spend more time with her boys and her husband - to stay home, do something from home, and be there for them.

My thought, in thinking about this, was "Why not?" Life is short, and the one guaranteed job that no-one can do better than you is be a parent to your child. It is the single biggest thing you can do to impact the future.

So often I get caught up in what my impact is, what I am doing, how I can change things - and fail to remember that, like a bowman, I am aiming my children (consciously or unconsciously) towards a horizon that I will never reach (and that horizon keeps creeping closer every day!) so that I can release them. Caught in the present, my present, I shoot towards the future.

Does that mean it's easy? No - it entails sacrifices of various kinds, which anyone who has done it can relate to you - even perhaps the sacrifice of a short term feeling of significance. But the rich rewards of what it can yield may be felt not only here, but in eternity.

Besides - entire sub-industries are dedicated to individuals starting their own businesses. Why not the same sort of enthusiasm and industry to those who are making decisions to actively raise and be there for their children?