@HomewithDean – Homily 12/18

So here we are. Christmas is a week away. Hanukah starts tomorrow. Winter officially begins on Wednesday. The holidays are in full swing as we near the end of another lap around the sun.And as I sat by the fire this morning, pondering all of this, it came to me that this may be the perfect moment to share with you the secret to the meaning of life. Sound good?I mean, come on, who wouldn’t like to enter into the holidays and begin the new year finally having learned the secret to the meaning of life?Ok, so here goes … Life is a sandcastle.That’s it. Life is a sandcastle.Now, there are a lot of things about that metaphor that deserve unpacking. Things like impermanence and fragility and wind and tides and mean little kids who like to kick things over. But at the heart of it is something even more important. Something even more fundamental.Life is a sandcastle because when you really look at it up close you realize that life is really just a lot of tiny, unremarkable things, all pilled together. And it’s the same for everyone. And I mean, everyone. That should bring you some comfort, I think. Whether you’re on top of the world or feeling left behind. Whether you’ve found your great purpose or are still looking. Whether you make a lot of money or are scraping to get by. Whether you possess the love you want or are hoping for more. No matter who you are and what your circumstance may be the profoundly simple truth about life is that we all spend most of our days doing mostly the same seemingly mundane tasks.We sleep. We get up. We go to the bathroom. We sit. We wipe. We flush. We shower. Brush teeth. Comb hair. Shave. Pluck. Dress. Tie shoes. Pour coffee. Stretch. Scratch. Yawn. We start cars. We buckle up. Pump gas. We drive. Signal. Accelerate. Break. Change lanes. Hunt for parking spaces. We work. We talk on the phone. Text. Email. We shop. We cook. We eat. We do dishes. Do laundry. Fold clothes. Clean house. We break stuff. Fix stuff. Prune. Rake. Water. We go out. We stay in. Wave at neighbors. Talk to friends. W