ASHES

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I walked into my wife's bedroom this evening to tell her "Good Night," and based on something I said, or perhaps my demeanor, she responded with,

"Cheer up. You could be ashes by now."

With this, I replied,

"Oh, I will be."

Earlier, she and I had been talking about our advancing age. Each of us are turning 75 this year. I had made reference to my parents who each passed away at the age of 85, and said,

"Well, we have all of 10 years left!"

And to be fair, each of us are even closer to the average "check out" age; men at 78 or 79, and women at 82 or 83.

And given the foregoing statistics, "Mrs. Fairfax's" words in the novel, "Jane Eyre" immediately came to mind.

"What to do? What to do?"

I can tell you, I had no ready mental response for the question. Ponce de Leon's quest for The Fountain of Youth was fruitless. Plastic surgeons can only address the symptoms of age with a nip here, and a tuck there. There are no time machines.

Speaking of slowing down the passage of time, there is an actual dynamic in which time slows down, or at least the perception of time seems to slow down. 

I expect we have all "been there" at one time or another. This dynamic occurs when a person finds themselves in a potentially catastrophic situation, and in the space of seconds, a decision must be made in which to escape the potentially harmful results of the dilemma. I had often wondered about this scenario 'til I found the explanation in something I read. It seems that our brains are processing so much information in such a small amount of time that time SEEMS to slow down.

It's an interesting dynamic. But it's only a perception. 

Scripture tells us that, "It is appointed unto man once to die..." (Hebrews 9:27)

And yet, even with this certain knowledge... having seen friends and loved ones precede us in death, even as believers, we hang onto the only life we know, and attempt to escape thoughts related to our demise, and of the life to come.

I think it is because this life seems so tangible and knowable, and the life to come seems so intangible and unknowable. And yet, it is the life to come which is so real, and permanent, and it is the life we know that is, ultimately, so intangible, and momentary.

God give us the wherewithal to grasp the truth of this knowledge, and to get a proper perspective of this life, and the life which is to come; to enjoy the years which He has afforded us on this earth, and to use those years to impact those whom God sets in our pathway; with the sure and certain realization that, as believers, this is NOT all there is, and that the presence of our Savior, and the glories of heaven await us in the not so distant future.

by Bill McDonald, PhD