The Life Line
My deeds must be my life. When I am gone, they will speak for me. —Stephen Girard
The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well. —Fulton Sheen
At the heart of the spiritual life is the conviction that your life is not about you. —Fr. Robert Barron
Above: A tombstone’s representation of a life.
Between birth and death,
there on your gravestone,
is your Life Line.
To some it’s just a dash.
To others, a bridge—connecting potential and fulfillment.
How will yours look?
Short or long?
Slim or bold?
Carefully carved or carelessly scrawled?
Regardless, make the most of it—
Draw it straight and long and true.
It’s your line in the sand, your shrug against infinity—
Make it count.
Time will go faster than you think
and your line will be shorter than you’d like,
but your life’s line is another’s lifeline.
And that’s what makes a life worth living.
Per my about page, White Noise is a work of experimentation. I view it as a sort of thinking aloud, a stress testing of my nascent ideas. Through it, I hope to sharpen my opinions against the whetstone of other people’s feedback, commentary, and input.
If you want to discuss any of the ideas or musings mentioned above or have any books, papers, or links that you think would be interesting to share on a future edition of White Noise, please reach out to me by replying to this email or following me on Twitter X.
With sincere gratitude,
Tom