Perfect Moments

I always tell my husband that I need something to collect. I love looking at other people´s collections of things. It doesn´t matter if they collect stamps, coins, jewelry, dolls, books or whatever--I love the idea of searching for that special something, finding it in some unexpected place, getting excited about it, and putting it in a special place at home amongst other similar things where it will feel at home. I wanted to collect something, but there wasn´t anything that I really cared enough about to collect. (One quality of mine that makes me a good missionary, but not a very good collector, is that I am not very impressed by material possessions.)

Today, however, I finally found something worth collecting. It´s rare, valuable, and almost always turns up in unexpected places. It´s virtually impossible to manufacture, and equally as difficult to preserve. What is it?

The perfect moment.

Have you had one? I had one just today. There was music on the radio, and we had just finished dinner. I scooped Bella up in my arms, and Jairo was holding Jane, and we were dancing together; our two little pairs of dancing partners. For about ten seconds (I told you, these moments don´t last long), it was like life was put on pause. The air was filled with love, closeness and pure happiness. And then, in the blink of an eye, it was gone. Life was normal again.

It wasn´t a perfect day. I failed many times. I failed as a mother. I failed as a wife. I failed as a follower of Christ. You can´t collect perfect days, because they do not exist. Not in this world. But you can collect perfect moments.

If you are a reader of CS Lewis, you will recognize these perfect moments as what he calls ¨joy¨. It isn´t just a happy feeling. It´s a moment of transcendence. It´s bittersweet. And it is designed to make you ache in your soul.

Why?

Because these moments are what we were created for. Before the fall, before sin and failure, there was joy. There was perfection. And there are traces of that perfection still hanging around, ready to surprise you and remind you that there is more. To remind you that what is to come is so much better than what we are living now. It stings, because it doesn´t last, and we so wish it would. But it also reminds us that the capacity we have for feeling true joy is a foreshadowing of an existence to come, when joy will no longer sting, because it will never end.

Would you collect with me? If you pay attention, you will find these perfect moments scattered all throughout your day-to-day. You might have to turn off your iphone, close your laptop, switch off the tv...but it´s worth it. Be present, open your eyes, and really see. There, in your child´s big, genuine, belly laugh; here, in a cool breeze, while you pause to look at Creation; it really can be found anywhere, if you look.

When you find the perfect moment, beware: It is not tame, and it will not stay with you long. If you want to keep it, you will have to bottle it up in your memory. And, if your memory is anything like mine, your perfect moment will not be safe in your memory for long. Tomorrow, next week, sometime you will forget it. And then it will be lost. So write it down. It only takes a few seconds. It´s like sticking your new stamp in your stamp book, or your new book on the shelf. You put it away ever so carefully, and then, when you need it, you´ll know where it is.

And you will need it.

There are so many moments in life that rob us of joy. In those moments, the best defense is to remember those perfect moments. It´s good to know that they exist, that we have lived them, and that soon we will live them again. In this world, and someday, in the next.