Advent 1: A Life that Endures

Lord, you have been our dwelling place
    in all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth
    or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
    from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

You turn us back to dust
    and say, “Turn back, you mortals.”
For a thousand years in your sight
    are like yesterday when it is past
    or like a watch in the night.

For we are consumed by your anger;
    by your wrath we are overwhelmed.
You have set our iniquities before you,
    our secret sins in the light of your countenance.

You sweep them away; they are like a dream,
    like grass that is renewed in the morning;
in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;
    in the evening it fades and withers.

For all our days pass away under your wrath;
    our years come to an end like a sigh.
The days of our life are seventy years
    or perhaps eighty, if we are strong;
even then their span is only toil and trouble;
    they are soon gone, and we fly away.

Who considers the power of your anger?
    Your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you.
So teach us to count our days
    that we may gain a wise heart.

Psalm 90:1-12

The first week of advent puts the second coming of Christ before our eyes. In other words, this is a time to reflect on truths that we would often rather avoid: The truth that all of us will one day die. The truth that there will come a day when we will have to give an account of what we have done, and left undone.

         All of us will die. As our reading said today: you will return to the ground. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return. We are mortal. We live only a short time, only a handful of decades. Those around us, are mortal too, they will not be with us forever. We are not gods who can do anything, be anything, or do everything: our time is short. We are, to use the traditional language, creatures. Our lives are limited. This should make us think: What really matters? money? popularity? possessions? These things pass away. But what endures?

         And then comes the judgement. As Bob Dylan sang: “But you’ve picked up quite a story, and you’ve changed since the womb / What happened to the real you, you’ve been captured but by whom?” This is a time to reflect: What have we made of ourselves? Or who are we becoming? Do we like where this is all headed? What have we done that needs mending? Who do we need to forgive? How have we allowed our hearts to grow cold? What trivial pursuit has prevented us from doing what matters most? Who is depressed, alone, or left out in our community that we simply do not see?

         As we remember these difficult truths—That we are mortal and will one day die; That we are becoming someone we might not want to be—we realize that these difficult truths point us to what really matters: to that which endures: Are we seeing and responding to our neighbor’s need? Are we present in the time we have left?

Here, we will find, is the life that endures.

The featured artwork is by Grace Waldner.