A Matter of Days
Tue 22 Mar 2011 Filed in: My Life | Grief Notes
“It could be a matter of days.” Those unwelcome words relayed by her family this morning shape the expectations for my cousin in Australia. With multiple organ failure and in need of a liver transplant for which she is not a candidate, she has exhausted the options that I wish were still there. I know the feeling too well, and I do not like it.
Among my early memories is a visit with my mother to the farm of my cousin’s family in Scotland. I was five years old; she was a couple of years older, which was old enough to convince me that an unauthorized wade in the duck pond would be a good thing. And it was - until my mother saw the soaking wet results. Sixty years later I still smile. To say that that was a lifetime ago ceases to be a cliche. It seems more like a matter of days.
And that, I suppose, is what life is: a matter of days. Moses got it right. “Teach us,” he prayed, “to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” They are numbered not to be hoarded, but to be enjoyed. Moses continued the prayer: “Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.” That seems wise to me. Some days are peaceful and some are painful, but I’m with Moses. It’s a matter of days, and my prayer is that all of them, whether peaceful or painful, will be indelibly marked by God’s unfailing love.
Among my early memories is a visit with my mother to the farm of my cousin’s family in Scotland. I was five years old; she was a couple of years older, which was old enough to convince me that an unauthorized wade in the duck pond would be a good thing. And it was - until my mother saw the soaking wet results. Sixty years later I still smile. To say that that was a lifetime ago ceases to be a cliche. It seems more like a matter of days.
And that, I suppose, is what life is: a matter of days. Moses got it right. “Teach us,” he prayed, “to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” They are numbered not to be hoarded, but to be enjoyed. Moses continued the prayer: “Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.” That seems wise to me. Some days are peaceful and some are painful, but I’m with Moses. It’s a matter of days, and my prayer is that all of them, whether peaceful or painful, will be indelibly marked by God’s unfailing love.
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