Meaning of Life

A New Year’s Reflection

In the Meantime

Bill Evans, Ph.D.
Harrisonburg, Virginia

I often remember how a former professor of mine, the late Dr. Carlyle Marney, once said in class, “most of life is lived in the meantime, and unless one learns to live life in the meantime, one is less than half alive!” What did Marney mean by that? Well, I think he meant to remind us that even though much of life is lived doing things like standing in line at the grocery store, or sitting still at traffic signals, or waiting anxiously for the next big event, life is still going on, even then. Sometimes we are tempted to think that life is only really lived on the weekends. But if we wait to live only then, we’re missing five-sevenths of our time here on earth. Occasionally, I hear people say things like, “I can’t wait for my next vacation!” I understand the feeling, but if you wait for vacations to live well, that only gives you a couple of weeks out of 52 a year to feel fully alive.

What’s my point? Live every day! Live every moment of every day! Don’t wait for the big events to live; don’t wait for graduation, for the new sports car, or until you land that ideal job; don’t wait until you’re married, or until the kids are all grown, or until you retire. Live life every second, in all your “in the meantime” moments! These powerful words appear in the Hebraic Wisdom Literature, supporting Marney’s statement: “so teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” I’ve calculated that even if I live to be 100 years old, I will have only 36,500 days here, plus a few extra ones added in for the leap years. That doesn’t seem very long, especially when you deduct all the days you’ve already lived. So now my goal is to realize that every day is a precious, fragile gift, meant to be treasured. May I encourage you to live your life fully, “in the meantime”!

Each One Reach One

As we start the New Year, I’d like to challenge each of our members to reach out to at least one other person with an invitation to join INPM in 2007. After all, we are a great organization with a wonderful mission and vision. Imagine how quickly we could grow, and how much more we could do, if we doubled our membership this year! I believe every one matters, and I also believe every one can benefit from what we have to offer. Each one reach one!