No one likes to think about death, even someone else’s.
Could that be a major reason community commemorations of holidays that force us to focus on death – Good Friday, Memorial Day, Veteran’s Day, Patriot Day – have decreased in attendance?
I’m reminded of the three amigos, all attending a friend’s funeral. They were trying to get their minds on more positive themes. They started sharing what they wanted said about them at their funeral. The first asked that he be remembered as a caring man who loved his own, but also others. The second said he wanted those eulogizing him to say he was generous to a fault, often showing his generosity by large donations and gifts. The third, not the sharpest knife in the drawer, as they say, answered the question of “So what do you want people to say about you at your funeral?”
He burst out: “I want them to say, ‘Look! He’s moving!’”
Cue the groans.
The grim reaper is coming for all of us. The Bible teaches us to: “Number your days aright and gain a heart of wisdom.” (Psalms 90:12)
The Hebrew word “number” is taken from the accounting world, meaning “to invest.” Don’t just spend your days. It also is borrowed from the world of the shepherd, who would count sheep in such a way that he would not lose one.
How can you invest your days and not lose one to things that are temporary and trivial?
Here’s something that helped one man and many others. He traveled all over the world painting the word “eternity” wherever he could.
To help me remember, I keep a tiny jar full of ashes that a friend gave me on my desk with the word “humility” written on the top.
The Word of God from Genesis is supposed to humble us and help us remember that life is short, relatively speaking, for all of us. “From dust we came and to dust we return,” (Genesis 3:19) often said about us at funerals. That might not be exactly what you want said about you at your funeral?
Remember that day is coming. That doesn’t have to be a morbid thought. That remembrance can do us a favor if it helps us number and invest our days wisely.
Rick Sams is pastor emeritus of Alliance Friends Church.
This article originally appeared on The Alliance Review: Put life in your days, not just worry over death | Bright Spot
Reporting by Pastor Rick Sams, Special to The Alliance Review / The Alliance Review
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By Pastor Rick Sams, Special to The Alliance Review | USA TODAY Network
