every moment...precious....

Brian Hines at Church of the Churchless (Why the truly churchless would or should need a church if they are going to be truly churchless is a question that occurs to me, but that's another matter....) writes on the meaning of life and the possible end of his spiritual search (Bold emphasis is mine):

"An image keeps popping into my head of people setting off from a jungle clearing into unknown territory, bent on searching for the ultimate treasure trove. Everybody follows a path in a different direction. Nobody returns with what they're looking for. Then there's the fools who sit on their butts in the middle of the clearing, drinking and eating and chatting and having a good time. They're the only ones not going anywhere. But they sure seem to be richer than the treasure-seekers.

From an early age I've assumed that the most important purpose of life is to find the meaning of life. It appeared so obvious that there's more to being human than just living as a human being. I desperately wanted to find the secret sauce that made everyday existence genuinely tasty. I deeply desired the key that unlocked the door leading to the hidden chamber of How Things Really Are. Now, there's another feeling that won't leave me: the sensation that every moment I'm alive is stupendously, unimaginably, indescribably precious -- because likely my life is a volume of awareness set between the bookends of not yet existent and gone forever.

If this life is the only one we'll ever live...each instant of experience possesses a value that can't be valued. And yet... so often we fritter those moments away. I'm not suggesting that one moment is more valuable than another. Or that one sort of experience is more valuable than another. Just that the meaning of life is the living of it. Fully. Consciously."

You can read the entire post here.