One of my mentors, Henri Nouwen writes about life as you age toward death, “Your whole life is filled with losses, endless losses. And every time there are losses, there are choices to be made. You choose to live your losses as passages to anger, blame, hatred, depression, and resentment, or you choose to let these losses, be passages to something new, wider, and deeper. The question is not how to avoid loss and make it not happen, but how to choose it as a passage, as an exodus to greater life and freedom.”

As I age, this wisdom becomes more clear and resonant. I imagine Dad dying in a room without any art, barely any furniture—Just a bed, white walls and a large window. He chose this room; a room that is not the passage into nothingness, but the beginning of the profound adventure into the mystery of eternal life. This stark room was a form of passage, of letting go the trappings of this early life—-All our external reminders of business or rather busy-ness and importance- movement, work, achievement, wealth.

I consider what I hold tightly in my hand that in one hundred years will not mean a thing.

What does matter?
What does last?

Psalm 90:12 is a beautiful reminder that there is a finitude to life. It will be over so much faster than we imagine. Scripture says our life is a blink of an eye, or like vapor — here a moment than gone.

Nouwen invites us into the passage of wonder and joy as we contemplate the celerity of life, inwardly slowly down, looking around and considering what really does matter.

What are you learning about the brevity of your life?

What losses have you been carrying toward a passage of heartache rather than a passage of hope? What helps to turn that around?

How do you befriend your losses and allow them to be used by God as gain?

“Teach us to number our days that we may learn a heart of wisdom.” – Psalm 90:12

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