May 1:  May Day.  It's a good day to think about the glory and wonder of life, in particular, spring.  Consider this line from "Here the Birds' Journey Ends," a poem written by Mahmoud Darwish:  "And we will etch on the final rocks, 'Long live life, long live life.'" 
     On the one hand, we know that, unless something extraordinary happens on earth, none of us will live indefinitely on this planet.  One day, we all will die.  As much as we may treasure life, this life we live in this present moment, we know that we will not be able to enjoy it forever.  Eventually, it will end.
     On the other hand, we know that our lives are but one manifestation of the life that grounds the lives that all of us live, that undergirding and fueling our individual lives is life, the life that animates and enlivens us all.  Without this life, none of us would be here.  That we are born, live, and die is the fruit, the outward and visible individuated expression of this "life" that pervades the planet.  We live because there is life, because life exists, exists not just as a concept but as papable and concrete reality.  Without this life, we would have no reality.
     So, yes, indeed, may life live.  May we always be part of and experience this vast bios, this teeming movement of existence that gestates and ripples across the universe and, specifically for us, sweeps and pervades planet Earth.  May life always be, may life always be here to birth us, grow us, enlighten us, even, sadly enough, end us.  May life always be here for us.
     Even more, however, may life take us into more life beyond it, a life (the life) created by an eternal God.  Long live the present, yet long live the future, a future with a meaning beyond itself, a meaning rooted in the absolute meaningfulness of an eternal and purposeful creator.
     Long live life, etched on the rocks of eternity:  God's life for us.