To be able to look someone in the eye, hold someone’s hand, touch someone’s arm, enfold someone in a hug – and speak words of love and truth, encouragement and affirmation, comfort and beauty, strength and honor into their lives is a gift like no other.
Yes, the preciousness of each day and the uncertainty of life hit close to home for us in Kentucky yesterday. The loss of life, peace and security shattered the hopes, joy, anticipation and comfort of yet another “place” we enter, without a thought, most days. Whether a school, church, mall, gymnasium, amusement park, concert venue, theater – public or private – these are the “places” where we live life. Where we grow and learn, shop, compete, worship and gather to be entertained or merely to enjoy one another’s company. Sometimes those precious days end in sorrow and grief. Most days they don’t. But that is really the basis of the uncertainty of life – we don’t know what each day will hold.
What comes to mind when someone asks you “how are your investments doing these days?” If you have stocks or bonds, mutual funds or IRAs, you might say they are doing pretty well, certainly better than a few years ago.
But do other “investments” come to mind – – – Investments in friends, in family, in relationships in general? How are your spiritual investments going? Are you hoping for a tremendous return when you need it the most?
The element of time is strangely elusive. The value we place on time is even more so. Is one hour of life to be cherished more than another?
A young woman, mother and friend passed away recently. While her days on earth were waning someone posted on her Facebook page that visitors were being asked to allow her son, mother and others close to her to spend uninterrupted time with her because “the time was precious.”
It got me to thinking – – – are the hours near the end of our lives any more valuable than those leading up to it? Really, is any one hour, whenever lived, more important; is any single hour less priceless?
