Faithfully Yours - Counting down the days

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Published on Saturday, March 21, 2015

Neil Strohschein

The Neepawa Banner

Many years ago, I heard about a man who did something very few people would dare to do.

Using data he collected from his family history and the best available scientific research, he figured out how long he could reasonably expect to live. After converting the years into days, he opened his daily planner and at the top of that day’s page, he wrote the number of days he had to live. He did the same thing the following day; reducing the number of days by one. He continued that practice for many years; much to the amazement of all who knew him.

A similar story surfaced about a year later. Shortly after her mother’s death, one of her daughters began the task of sorting through the papers piled on her desk. One piece of paper moved her to tears. She called a friend and shared what she found with him. “The night before she died,” the daughter said, “My 90-year-old mother sat down and wrote out her goals for the next five years.”

Two different stories about two different people; but they follow a common theme. Both were looking to the future. Both knew that they would not live forever. They knew death could claim either of them at any time and were determined to make the most of every day they had left.

In his letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul encourages us to adopt a similar lifestyle. “Be careful how we live,” he says: “not as unwise people, but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:15-16)

Life, as we know, gives us few guarantees. What we have today can be taken from us in an instant. Tragedy can strike without warning—taking possessions and people we love from us. A serious illness can afflict anyone at any time. Heart attacks, strokes, kidney failure, liver disease and cancer (to name but a few) show no regard for one’s age, economic status, social standing or religious convictions. They pick their victims randomly, sometimes causing minimal damage to our health, sometimes causing instant death. None of us knows what tomorrow may bring—so we must make the most of the time we have today.

How do we do that? First, by taking care of business—making sure that we complete the work that we have been called to do today; so that when we lay our head on the pillow tonight, we can do so knowing that we have left nothing unsaid that should have been said and nothing undone that should have been done. Our goal should be to end each day as Jesus ended his life—by being able to look up to God and say: “I have finished the work you gave me to do today.”

Second, by investing our time, talent and treasure in our communities and their people, seeking to make each one a better place in which to live. We follow the example of Jesus who healed hurting people and shared his resources with those who had needs.

Sometimes, estimating our remaining life span and counting down our days can deceive us into thinking that we have more time on this earth than we actually do. God alone knows how many days remain in your life and in mine; and it’s a secret he keeps to himself.

So I propose that as each new day begins, we thank God for it and then live it as though it will be our last day on this earth—because…it could be!!