My experiences of this evening and yesterday morning have taught me that circumstances beyond our control don't always give us sufficient time to prepare for them. They come when we least expect them, giving us a moment's notice, if that, before they plunge us into a situation for which we might not be prepared. I wasn't fully ready to run D&D tonight, and I am still not ready to die, but life isn't necessarily going to wait for me to be ready. Life happens, whether we're ready for it or not.
Still, there is one way we can make sure we are ready for at least a few of the challenges life throws at us. That way is by preparing now, long before the challenges arise. Those of us who might face an emergency situation at some point can prepare for it by stockpiling nonperishable food and other essentials. Those of who are still alive can prepared for death and judgment by putting our figurative houses in order, financially and spiritually. And those of us who might be called upon to run a game of D&D next week can prepare for it by planning descriptions for what the characters see and by bookmarking the right pages of the Monster Manual (which I will definitely remember to bring next week, whether I think the regular DM will be able to make it or not).
Some challenges catch us by surprise, but there are a handful of challenges that we know are coming. We can prepare for them now so we won't get caught unprepared when those challenges arise. Bishop Don Farimond, my seminary teacher, told me that "when the time to perform has arrived, the time to prepare has ended." The "time to perform" is coming. The time to prepare is now.
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