SELFIES --

 

Us-ie

Because of the improved capabilities of my cell phone camera, I am able to record moments better than I ever could with my digital camera – which in 2006 I thought was the bee’s knees capturing “Kodak Moments.” And I am in grand company – the heads of Western democracies – and Hollywood royalty are gratified when the instant “Ebenezer”  -- their Selfie – reflects back their thrill and wonder at being who they are and where they are. (See Mr. Obama and others at Nelson Mandela’s Memorial, and Ellen and friends, the night of the Oscars.)

Since I carry my phone on our walks, (for its I.C.E. benefit) it becomes a handy way of memorializing what is often an agreeable but brief moment – though admittedly mundane by most standards.

Would that I could have captured this past Sunday frame-by-frame, and preserving it so that its simple pleasures – from beginning to end – would never slip away. Pictures from Sunday would have been sweet confirmation of good memories.  Nothing extraordinary --   just a day filled with so many simple pleasures – from gathering with family to worship – to dinner and a movie with family.  

The movie, About Time,  is quirky -- both pleasant and profound, underscoring the worth of memorializing the mundane.  Its storyline is about men, who can travel through time, because they so deeply live their families and friends and the good quiet times they have enjoyed. And some if its dialogue framed the reasons I have gotten so into selfies – and maybe all those famous souls, too:

   

·      We're all traveling through time together, every day of our lives. All we can do is do our best to relish this remarkable ride.

·       . . . I just try to live every day as if I've deliberately come back to this one day, to enjoy it, as if it was the full final day of my extraordinary, ordinary life.

Being able to walk and talk with my best friend – sharing memories, hope and prayers – is so more achingly, fleetingly beautiful than I ever imagined.  So, expect more selfies while God grants me the opportunities to do us-ies.