Last Wednesday (for a while)

Claude Monet "Le Grenoillère" (1869)

"In rivers the water that you touch is the last of what has passed and the first of that which comes: so with time present." - Leonardo da Vinci

Today marks a day of change for the summer. It will be the last Wednesday evening service at C3-Atlanta for the coming months. Many people hang on that word 'last' and lament the end of something. I myself had thoughts about things ending in the past and what it means to lose something.

While the C3-Atlanta folks are only doing this on a temporary summer basis, it felt so much different. To those at C3-Atlanta, don't worry, Wednesday nights will return after a great summer of events. To everyone though, we can stop to think about the word last and try to understand what it really means.

There are many things we could describe as being the 'last'. The 'last' piece of chocolate; the 'last' day of school; the 'last' day of being single; the 'last' day of our life. So many things you could apply this word to. But this word is just a point to mark the continuum of time.

When something is ending, something new is beginning and all we have to do is flow with the change. Such as described above, the ending of a Wednesday evening service is the beginning of new opportunities to connect with other people. The ending of a person's single life is the beginning of a new life connected with another person. The final day of school is the beginning of a world of possibility. Even the last day of our life is the start of something even grander for us.

How you choose to accept the 'last' of anything determines the quality of what comes next. Time and life will continue on with or without you. Choose to mark the 'last' of anything as the beginning of something new and wonderful. Let the last become the first in your life.
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