Live like you’re dying
Jesus said to his disciples:
"In those days after that tribulation
the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light,
and the stars will be falling from the sky,
and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.
"And then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in the clouds'
with great power and glory,
and then he will send out the angels
and gather his elect from the four winds,
from the end of the earth to the end of the sky.
"Learn a lesson from the fig tree.
When its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves,
you know that summer is near.
In the same way, when you see these things happening,
know that he is near, at the gates.
Amen, I say to you,
this generation will not pass away
until all these things have taken place.
Heaven and earth will pass away,
but my words will not pass away.
"But of that day or hour, no one knows,
neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." (Mark 13:24-32)
From the moment of our conception we begin our journey towards eternity. Eternity is not of this world and this earth; it is entered through the common gateway of death. For a span of time here on earth, our journey is marked by growth, by flourishing. There comes a tipping point where biologically we stop our cycle of physical growth, we maintain for a short duration, and then (God willing) we begin a long, slow period of decline. Death comes for everyone. I am well aware that this Gospel points to the ‘End Times’, however today this Gospel spoke to each of our own end times. From the porch of our Bed and Breakfast in Savannah, my mom watched a jogger zoom by through Forsythe Park across the way. As we sat eating a rather indulgent breakfast the juxtapositon of how we were spending our time was not lost on my mom. She shared her perspective by telling the jogger (just loud enough for our ears), “You’re still going to die.” What wisdom! We as a society hide from this truth. We spend billions (probably trillions) of dollars each year trying to deny our mortality. We eat vegan, paleo, mediterranean. We punish our bodies with strength training, cardio, HIIT. We pursue surgeries and chemotherapy. We try to cheat the system and beat death. We can’t. The next best thing would be to buy time or to know how much time we have. I have often been lured into the popular click baits: the best thing to eat every day, the one exercise to extend your life, what is your real biological age. Seven years ago my dad almost died twice in the span of a few hours on December 13, 2017 while undergoing surgery for bladder cancer. It turns out the bladder cancer was metastatic, a certain death sentence with a life expectancy around 18 months. He was started on a trial of Keytruda (write that name down all you who want to beat death) and told it may extend his life another 14 months. In the words of Lord Voldemort from Harry Potter, “The boy who lived!” Ah, the folly of man’s best guess.
But of that day or hour, no one knows
This morning in prayer a beautiful truth emerges: I am SO happy that I DIDN’T KNOW I would have at least seven more years with my dad. That perpetual sense of borrowed time that we have been living in has given us the sense of urgency in using our time truly judiciously. We have embraced each holiday as if it were the last (because it might be and one day will be). We have spent more time at Kingston with my dad and improving Kingston in ways that help him to enjoy Kingston more fully. Jeff and James have travelled to Canada A LOT with my dad in the last seven years. We went skiing even though I thought it was kinda crazy, but why not?! I have made sure to tell my dad I love him and to give him a hug every time I see him. If I had known I had so much time I would have been human and procrastinated. I have had more quality time not because I have had more time, but, because I have lived in the present moment while acknowledging the future reality of limited time. Here is another truth that was inspired by this Gospel. We have a savior who’s in the same boat of ‘not knowing’ with us!
No one knows…nor the Son
I had never considered those three words before, nor the Son. I have often struggled to believe that Jesus never stops giving up on us, never stops standing by our side, for those who will deny Him to their death. While this Gospel speaks to the global end times, perhaps it also speaks to our individual end time. Jesus stays with us in our trials, our sicknesses, our tribulations, our victories, our failures. Jesus stays with us in each present moment because it may be our last present moment and He doesn’t want to waste one opportunity to save us. Think about it. Here’s another way to look at this; when someone you love is struggling (whether with illness or life’s circumstances) if you knew they were going to come out the other side of this okay, would you invest the same amount of time, energy, and love on this moment of crisis?
But of that day or hour, no one knows
To quote an old Tim McGraw song, "Someday I hope you get the chance
To live like you were dying." Spend time in prayer with our Lord this week. Think about this, right now, each moment that we have breath in our lungs may be one of the last moments that we get to spend time with Him. What would you start changing if you were to truly start living the truth of our own mortality?
