One Wild and Precious Life

Matthew 24:36 – “Concerning that day and hour, no one knows; not even the angels in the heavens nor the Son, but only the Father.”

Jesus is talking about judgment day, but he could be talking about anything. This saying reminds me of the joke that if you want to make God laugh, tell her your plans. We don’t know what will happen in the next year, month, or even the next five minutes, much less any farther into the future. 

The essence of being here on earth is change, and we don’t always control how our lives change. Any moment death, disaster, disease, or even good news can catch up with us. Our lives are constantly in flux – even if it’s currently only our body doing much changing. We forget this and when the change comes, we’re often surprised. Sometimes, there are no signs. Sometimes, we miss the signs, misinterpret them, or try to ignore them altogether. This last is a common human reaction to a reality we don’t want to accept. We put off self-care, going to the doctor, home repairs, making amends to loved ones, or we stay too long in toxic relationships. This last was me. Not wanting to admit the truth, to admit mistakes, or that I could be wrong is like trying to make gingerbread out of poop.

The truth is we’re living our lives between birth and death. Often, we in the US choose not to talk or think about death. It’s a taboo subject. We prepare for retirements if we’re able and forget or put off preparing for death. Part of preparing for death is to live our life as fully as we can with the time and resources we have. Part of preparing for death is making a will or a living trust, designing our funeral, thinking about what to do with our remains. It’s sad to think about, and it’s even a little boring. It's work.

Buddhist monks are often asked to meditate on their deaths; imagining their dead bodies, their skeletons, their muscles. I have done this, and it was amazing to see how I went about my life asleep, as if I would never die. On a certain level this makes sense. We cannot think about our death all the time. So, living as if we won’t die is a human way of being. As counter-intuitive as it sounds, such meditation gives life meaning. We have limited time.

To quote Mary Oliver:

Tell me, what is it you plan to do

with your one wild and precious life? (The Summer Day)

B