July 28, 2021

July 28, 2021

Written by David Petty

You return man to dust; You decreed, “Return you mortals!”  For in Your sight a thousand years are like yesterday that has passed, like a watch of the night.  You engulf men in sleep; at daybreak they are like grass that renews itself; at daybreak it flourishes anew; by dusk it withers and dries up ... Teach us to count our days rightly, that we may obtain a wise heart.
—Psalm 90: 3-6,12

Famous (and sometimes infamous) rock musician David Crosby, now 79, was recently asked by someone roughly the same age, “How can us old people enjoy the time we have left?”  Here’s what Croz answered:

    The question isn’t how much time you have; it’s   

    what you’re going to do with it.  If you agonize over the

    fact that you’re going to die, you’re wasting it.  If you 

    spend that time helping other people, making new 

    things, making anything better for anybody, then the 

    time that you have left, whatever amount it is, will be 

    well spent.  You may die tomorrow, but you’ve got today.

    So why don’t you use the heck out of it?

    (Rolling Stone 1352, June 2021, p.14)

The popular cliche puts it somewhat differently: it’s better to add life to your years than to add years to your life.  Where better to find that life than in the author of life (Acts 3:15), the one who came that we might have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10)?

I can only add that, from a practical standpoint, these things are more easily done in the company of a group of like-minded folks.  That’s why I hope to spend the remainder of my years with the people of St. Mark.

Gracefully submitted,
David Petty