271st Meditation
“Teach us to count up the days that are ours, and we shall come to the heart of wisdom” (Ps 89:12).
A simple prayer, but a powerful one… We are all on our way and will have to cross death as the last bridge to eternity. No one knows the hour when it will come. But for people of faith, this “last enemy to be done away” (1 Cor 15:26) loses its dread as we come to know the love of the Father and understand that, having passed through death, we will return to our home, where Jesus has prepared a dwelling place for us (Jn 14:2-3).
But it is wise to be aware of this, so that our life is totally transparent in the eyes of our Heavenly Father. We have only one life in which we are to prove our faithfulness. We have only one life to lay up treasures in heaven (Mt 6:20). We have only one life to bring joy to our Father, for which He will reward us in eternity.
It is part of Christian prudence to remember this reality again and again. It is certainly not the case that, full of fear and scruples, we are at all times making sure that we do not miss any opportunity to lay up treasures. This would lead to a tense attitude and drain our strength. Rather, it is that, with a single glance at the Father and an attentive listening to the Holy Spirit, we receive the light for the given situation, so that, with the assistance of the gift of counsel, we may do that which will most glorify our Father.
To “count up the days that are ours” means to think of our Father, who awaits us in eternity. What can we bring to Him? How can we co-operate with Him so that people may know His goodness and that death may not find them unprepared? Dear Father, what are the works that you want to accomplish through us?
It will please our Father greatly if we make use of the short time of our life in this way, and He will entrust to us the desires of His Heart, while at the same time giving us in superabundance all that we need to fulfil the mission He entrusts to us. In this way, we will consciously and joyfully go out to meet death, because on the other side awaits us the One who is love (1 Jn 4.8).