HD Homilies- Life

ENan and I spent the weekend celebrating a friend’s 70th birthday.  Our friend is active and healthy and doesn’t look at all like 70 year-olds looked when I was a kid.  To be honest, ENan and I are not far behind our friend in age.  Discretion (and the prospects of sleeping on the couch) will not allow me to say how old ENan and I are, but I will say that ENan and this friend were roommates their freshman year at UNCG.

Naturally, we spent some time reminiscing about the 50+ years we have known each other.  We laughed at silly things we did together and cried over shared losses.  Several times along the way we observed, “How did the years go by so quickly?”

The writer of Psalms recognized this dilemma when he wrote, “We live to be about 70.  Or we may live to be 80, if we stay healthy… The years quickly pass and we are gone.” (Psalm 90:10)  Honestly, that sounds pretty pessimistic to me.  If we are not careful, our days go by as a blur and then weeks and months and years are suddenly in the rearview mirror.  In our rush toward tomorrow, we can lose touch with family, friends, focus and even ourselves.  Again, the Psalmist had this figured out.  “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12)

The plaque pictured above sat on the shelf at my mother-in-law’s house for years.  The slate is part of the original roof of First Baptist Church in Wilmington.  The calligraphy was done by a long-time member.  The saying is not from the Bible but comes straight from the wisdom of God.

“Time is not measured by the years that we live,

But by the deeds that we do

And the love that we give.”

I believe even the pessimistic writer of Psalm 90 would agree with that statement.  Tradition says that Psalm 90 is “A prayer of Moses the man of God.”  Moses was already 80 years old when he received his barefoot call from God.  He spent the next 40 years shepherding a “stiff-necked” people through the wilderness.  You might say the most significant years in Moses’ life began about the time it should have been ending.

I don’t know how many years I have left to live, but I am counting on having a lot more living to do.

-Dr. Jim Baldwin