A Bible verse about death:
“Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow.” Psalm 144:4
The older I get, the faster time goes by. I’ve heard that it increases even further as you age. Maybe that’s because we’re born with an innate sense of our own mortality?
The older we get, the closer we come to our own death. The entirety of our being is fleeting at best compared to eternity, or even known history. That’s kind of a sobering thought, but it’s the reality.
The “Old Guys”
I was working at the fire station the other day and I saw a photo of a bunch of the “old guys” from the 1970’s or so. While looking at this photo, a thought occurred to me.
These guys look just like me or any of my coworkers. It may as well be a photo of us. The difference is that these young guys have already aged, had a full career, and been long retired. Some or many of them have already passed on.
And someday, someone else will be seeing a photo of me. Maybe they’ll have a similar thought.
When I first started working at the fire department, the guys told me to enjoy it because it “goes fast.” It didn’t seem like it at first, but they’re right.
Perception of Time
I can’t say that it’s been short because my career does feel long at this point, but I also feel like memories from a few years ago happened much sooner than they did.
The fact that I’ve been here for 16 years already is somewhat staggering when I think about it.
Perhaps not surprisingly, this schedule and this life that I have chosen has warped my sense of time altogether. When I’m at work, it’s almost as if I expect the rest of the world to just stop because I’m at work. Subconsciously I don’t understand that the world continues.
That might be confusing, but it’s the best way that I can explain my disconnect with time. Because we work 24 hour shifts and 56 hours a week, I’m away from home 1/3 of every month and 4 months out of the year.
So, to me, what feels like a couple of days is actually a couple of weeks. A year or two is often four or five.
My perception is warped, but one thing is true:
It is fleeting
I like the analogy that man is like a breath. You can take a deep, long breath or a quick gasp. I think that relates to the fact that some of us live long lives, and some of us pass before anyone thinks we should.
To be honest, I don’t know how I feel about this verse.
In a way, it’s sobering because it reminds me of my mortality. I think about how I’ll be remembered. Then I feel a little guilty because that shouldn’t be important to me. But I want my life to have meaning. I want to be worth remembering.
On the other hand, this verse is comforting to me. It relieves me of the burden of worrying about what I’ll accomplish or not. I don’t have to be anxious about when I’ll go.
Whether or not I live a long life, in the grand scheme of things, whether I live long or die suddenly, it’s all fleeting. It kind of puts us all on the same playing field. And that kind of leads to more of a nonchalant attitude about death. My death in particular.
Now that I think about it further, this verse is also motivating. Since life is fleeting, we should make the most of it while we’re here. That’s kind of a cliche phrase, but I suppose it’s true.
Happiness is a choice, and I am like a breath. So I might as well be an enjoyable one.
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