Slideshows of Life

Sometimes during my early morning meditations, my mind feels like a slideshow.

Do you remember slideshows? My dad loved them. He would set up his projector, and up would come images on a white wall. One picture after another would appear in rapid succession of our family and of my parents when they were young. It brought him so much joy.

This morning, my mind is like a projector with its very own slideshow. I close my eyes, and images pop up in my mind: images of freed hostages being embraced by emotional family members; images of soldiers talking about resuming a war; Red Cross workers discussing what they have witnessed; Jimmy Carter bidding goodbye to the love of his life, Rosalyn Carter (I mean, come on, what a love, what a life!).

Then, I see Bradley Cooper playing the legendary Leonard Bernstein in the new film Maestro (it’s amazing, by the way). Then an image appears of my pastor urging us all to become channels of peace—or was it instruments of peace? I can’t remember. Then, there is my family at Sunday dinner. And then, I recall my last conversation with the legendary Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.