Temporal vs. Eternal Scoreboard: Temporal 1, Eternity ∞

As Christians/Catholics we're often told we always should focus on the eternal/transcendent over things that are temporal, but sometimes I feel there is a pesky little thing about the temporal, that by virtue of being temporal, sometimes feels eternal.

Friendships sometimes drift away, relationships end, skydivers eventually have to parachute back to earth (well this would be a good thing),and even that slice of cheesecake eventually disappears from the plate into your digestive system. Yet we don't regret these temporary experiences because nothing else seems to matter while we're having them, because within themselves they can feel quite eternal in intensity.

Still, St. Ignatius teaches everyone (and most especially his Companions, you know, those people) that we must learn a sense of indifference, that is, knowing what in life is transcendent (like our relationship with God and God's will for us) and what is temporary, so that we don't over-attach ourselves to the temporary which can be fleeting and disappoint the high expectations we may put on it for fulfillment (money, cheesecake, cars, etc. etc.).

This has been a kind of challenge for me sometimes because sometimes I live with the mentality that life is "building up" toward a high point. In other words, I often live with the sense that daily living is just some sort of rehearsal or preparation for epic life events (a graduation, a battle, a wedding, an ordination, a flight, a happenchance meeting, an outing). It might be because I want to, as trite as it sounds, spend more time "living" rather than just "existing".

And what better way to really live than by going by the [cheesy but agreeable] quote "it's not the number of breaths you take but the number of moments that take your breath away" (I just had a morbid thought about what a terrible slogan this would be for a hospice organization)? What's the point of living by longevity than by quality? Why shouldn't we enjoy many of the things here on earth?

[Well, the short answer is that we should. Our long answer is given by Saint Augustine, who also seems to give a resounding yes, provided these things are loved according to the appropriate type of love, love of use for created things, but only love of enjoyment for its sake for God. I have to look up how love of use/amor uti factors into not simply meaning to 'just use' something, especially when it comes to temporal goods that involve people.]

I can find joy in the mundane too (like the cheerful Dunkin Donuts cashier that smiled at me the other day), but when I feel I'm stuck in it, it's hard to picture what striving for eventual eternal joy really means other than safely living your life without taking risks, in hope that a safe existence detached from temporal enjoyment will be compensated in heaven by a kingdom and riches "eyes have not seen and ears have not heard."

It may not necessarily mean everyone's way to heaven is ascetic detachment (though the Buddhists are certainly on to something when they suggest something of the like and for some Christians, this can be the way), but it makes me wonder how I can sort of have an "incarnational" sort of spirituality: one that properly enjoys the goods of earth but still hopes for the "unseen" goods of what's to come.