Show me, O Lord, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life. Psalms 39:4.
The amount of time we have on this planet is brief. The longest life is but a short drama. Man appears on the stage of life, acts out a few scenes, takes his final bow, and is seen no more. All we have is that short interval between birth and death.
Each day of our life should, therefore, be an important and meaningful period of worthwhile life activities. We do not have the time for pettiness and trivialities or a lot of foolishness because in the midst of our wasting time in trivia, Mother Nature goes on about her business. Our clay houses fall to pieces, but the sun goes right on shining. A man's body disintegrates, but the moon continues to glow, the birds keep on singing, God's universe keeps on moving, and Father Time keeps on ticking. As we go about fussing and fighting, sneaking and hiding, slipping and sliding, lying and cheating, the sand of death's hourglass continues descending and the distance to the grave continues to shorten.
Time is not concerned with how you utilize it. It does not care whether you use it wisely or squander it ignorantly. It will just continue on about its business. Our lives are contingent on the will of a wise and holy God. As Governor of the universe, He decides the condition and tenure of our lives. God gives us all the time we need to accomplish our mission and when our time is up, it is up. A second longer is unnecessary.
God wants us to appreciate the blessings of living and yet to always be cognizant of the realities of dying. The important thing is not longevity, but the content of your life. What are you doing with your time? Your life is too priceless and too fleeting to spend recklessly. Think about it.
MY DAY HAS PAST
My day has past,
It would not last.
But why did it go?
Destiny deemed it so.
I pleaded with my day,
But it refused to stay.
I thought I controlled time,
Soon learned it wasn't mine.
How quickly my day went;
How unwisely was it spent.
Cannot get my day back,
It left no traceable track.
My day has past,
It went too fast.
So much I did not do,
Because I chose not to.
I could have set a goal,
Fought valiantly and bold
To accomplish some good thing
Before the dawn of spring.
Instead, I sat downcast
And let my day go past.
It gave me time aplenty,
But I did as has so many.
My day I so abused
By letting it pass unused.
Desire cannot bring it back,
Regrets cannot change the fact.
Opportunities no longer exist.
Chance, a faded mist.
Tears overflowing at last,
Because my day has past.
Rev. Saundra L. Washington, D.D., is an ordained clergywoman, social worker, and Founder of AMEN Ministries. http://www.clergyservices4u.org She is also the author of two coffee table books: Room Beneath the Snow: Poems that Preach and Negative Disturbances: Homilies that Teach. Her new book, Out of Deep Waters: A Grief Healing Workbook, will be available soon.