Along the way I became old. It did not feel that way. I felt the same way inside but I looked at models and realized how young they were and realized I was considerably older.

Life was really a gift. I would occasionally peruse the obituaries and note there were many who had died were my age or younger. That did not change anything.

Sometimes I would become depressed. Everyone knows they will die but act as if they will cheat death or it will not come to them one day.

Death and taxes. Is that all I have to look forward to? How depressing?!

‘Life is but a vapor.’  King Solomon’s words in the Bible.  If that is true and it is so what’s the point?  Your life will be over before you know it.

He tempers those words in the Old Testament with the statement and I am paraphrasing:  It is a gift to enjoy our life.

The Greek has several words for the word “time” and right now they escape me.  Nevertheless, one means the chronological passage of time and another means the significance of that point in time.

It is true, time seems, in retrospect, to flee you but not all points have similar value to you.  It is the points in time that have significance to us so don’t despair over the passing in time.

Cherish the moments you have been given for there is no more precious gift that can be given to you than today.  We all have so much and none of us knows exactly how much.  And that makes our time on earth here that much more valuable.  We never know when it is going to run out.

What are we really afraid of when it comes to death?  I will try to explore some of my fears.  I am afraid of dying alone.  Most people want to be surrounded by their loved ones when that moment occurs.  People often die alone in hospital beds.

One fear I have as I become older, I become afraid of losing my independence–of becoming dependent on others to take care of all my needs.  No one wants to suffer.

There is always the fear my life has been in vain, that I have squandered my most precious resource–my time.  I read obituaries and feel that person’s life has been summed up in a few paragraphs.  And that is it.

I have to remind myself that it a gift we have received to enjoy the life God gave us.  I am always afraid that I have become the cantankerous man I have often seen in passing.

Someone who hobbles around and the only joy this person gets is to complain about his ailments.  I do not want to become that person and my constant prayer is that as I age I want to grow old with grace.  That thought has been more in my consciousness lately.

Death Is Really Valuable

Author: siggy

Death is really valuable.  The fact that our lives are finite makes our lives that much sweeter.  What if you knew you were going to live forever; would there be any urgency to your life?  Doesn’t it make a difference knowing some day we are going to die?  And not only that.  We have no idea when.

Life becomes that much more valuable knowing it is finite.  When we are young there is the illusion we are going to live forever.  It is only an illusion, sometimes shattered when a friend close to us meets an untimely death.

I never forgot Anna Quinlan’s (the well known writer) comments.  She was in college and temporarily left to take care of her mother who was dying.  Then she returned to college with a different perspective, a keener appreciation of life.  She looked at her fellow students and considered their concerns now trivial.  Life had become very precious to her.  Her Mom died.  And the last few months she spent taking care of her illustrated to her how fragile and tenuous life really was.  She had a new found appreciation of how precious life really was.

One can not live with the notion he or she may go at any moment.  Everything is by grace.  And the awareness of the specter of death that awaits every one makes life that much sweeter and always gives you a greater appreciation of the simple things every one takes for granted.  From dust you come and from dust you shall return.  Those words in the Bible are so true.  Our society today views death as a curse.  It is really a gift so appreciate the time the Lord has given to you.  You only have one life so enjoy it and make the best of it.