Now is the Time!
ReNewing the Importance of Each Day
Near the end of each December our culture pauses to remember those we’ve lost this year. Some TV programs devote time to feature the life and work of celebrities who died during the past 12 months.
Reflecting upon the lives of those who have died is an important part of our transition into each New Year. Maybe that’s why there are so many religious and cultural holidays that fall near the end of the year. Despite their unique origins, common threads of meaning emerge from them all. Things like Faith, Hope and Resilience, symbolized by Light in the darkness.
Yet there can be no Happy New Year without an intentional consistent focus on each New Day. Although, we generally tend to place more emphasis on Years than we do Days, we know that years cannot exist without days, and the tiny moments that make them.
As a young Pastor, I sometimes used my day off to walk in the woods or visit a historical site. One day, I was walking through a colonial era cemetery in Bridgeton NJ. There I noticing many graves of people who died in their 20s and 30s. And I was shocked by the number tiny graves I saw marked with headstones carved in the shape of little lambs. These were for children.
As I walked along, I read many of the inscriptions on their headstones. Their epitaphs were different than what I’m used to seeing. After the dates of a persons Birth and Death, they add something special that I’ve never forgotten. They say:
“Lived” (or “Aged”) “25 Years 4 Months 8 Days”
“I guess when you live only 25 years, the days must become really important,” I thought. And they are important. It’s supply and demand. The fewer the number of days you have, the more valuable each becomes.
Back then, my own death seemed far off, and the number of days too many to count. But the older I get, the more keenly aware I am that my days are numbered. That one day I will really die. And that day is closer now than ever before. On the one hand, that thought sends a shiver down my spine. On the other hand, it imbues each day with greater meaning and value, and proclaims to my heart, “NOW is the time!”
“NOW is the time to pursue what’s on your heart! NOW is the time to follow your calling!”
“Today is the Day that God has made! Rejoice and be Glad in it! (Psalm 118:24)
In that grave yard, so many years ago, I remembered a small piece of Psalms 139 in the Hebrew Bible. It goes like this:
“In your book were written/ all the days that were formed for me/ when none of them as yet existed.” (Psalms 139:16)
It’s important to note that this is relational poetry. It is not trying to prove that God has pre-planned ever event and circumstance of our lives. These are the words of a Poet expressing the Meaningfulness of his Life, and the Wonder of being Alive!
It’s about faithfulness, not fate. It’s about the Hope that God will remain present Day-in and Day-out, no matter what. For me, it means that God knows the possibilities. God knows the faith that prods me forward, and the fears that hold me back. And God honors both faith and fear with loving presence and encouragement.
God gives me control of the choices I make as I try to participate with my understanding of Divine Will. And God does not punish me for my inefficient or ineffective choices along the way. Rather, God integrates them into the Day-By-Day work of spiritual growth, maturity and transformation.
That’s why Today is so important. And why, Now is the Time.
Wishing you Grace and Peace and a Happy New Year,
Joe