“A thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past, or like a watch in the night.”  Psalm 90:4

“His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.”  Luke 1:50

Where did summer go?  Time flies.  Will this day ever end?  In-box piled high; impossible to-do list; waiting … next weekend  … vacation … Christmas …..… to see  you.  How must passing time feel – if they can feel it passing at all – to those separated, unable to see the end, each day seeming the same?  Prison, especially solitary confinement; combat; POW camps; care centers during COVID.  Time is a gift, yet, at times it might feel like something that just must be endured.   

The seeming invincibility of youth evolves into the reality of mortality.  How we spend the time gifted to us becomes important.  Another birthday, New Year’s Eve … time gone by, another year passed; but also new beginnings, “another chance”.  Another candle means one more wish.  Once again we resolve to improve our lifestyle.  

Mary Oliver asks, “What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”  Wild and precious time would not be apathy.  Learning and curiosity … the wonders of natures, the customs of other peoples, an open mind“.  “Eat, drink, and be merry”.  Yes, I appreciate sitting around the table with family and friends, sharing memories and making plans.  I believe we should play as we are able and look for reasons to be joyful in our routines.   

We dwell on numbers.  I don’t know a specific number of years that define a long life.  Jesus’ time on Earth as one of us wasn’t long.  But he set the example of love and compassion.  We cannot spend our time indifferent to the needs of humanity.  This hour, this day is our opportunity to live for good.  

Alpha and Omega, with me from my first breath until the last, help me live each moment in awe at the wonders of the Earth, filled with the love and compassion of Jesus, and the grace and peace of the Holy Spirit.  Amen        

Verla Olson 

Ministries
Teaching Mission Party