The Most Important Time of Your Life

The Most Important Time of Your Life

Psalm 90 selected verses; Joshua 5:13-15

A meditation delivered electronically by Rev. Dr. Randy K. Hammer, September 6, 2020

    I have a confession to make.  I committed an error in judgment, and I am here to share it with you today.  I have already confessed it to the parties offended, but perhaps in sharing with you my error, you can learn from my mistake. A few weeks ago, a couple of members of our United Church gave us a paper bag containing a variety of home-grown tomatoes from their garden.  One of those tomatoes was a purple tomato that I love, especially on hamburgers.  So, I tucked that one prized, purple tomato away in the refrigerator, saving it for the next time we cooked hamburgers.  Well, we never got around to having hamburgers, and when I came across that tomato in the refrigerator a few weeks later, it was rotten.  We had missed our chance.  I had squandered a wonderful gift and blessing.  You have heard the saying, “There is no better time than the present.”

Well, such reminded me of a story I heard years ago.  Regardless of whether the story is 100% factual, it is true in essence nonetheless.  The story goes that a mother and grandmother kept her good wedding china packed safely away in a box.  When a family member asked her about the special wedding china, she said, “Oh, I’m saving that for a special occasion.”  Years passed, and the special occasion never came.  When the mother and grandmother passed away, while going through her things her family found the special wedding china, safely boxed away in the attic.  How many special occasions had passed over the years when the mother and grandmother could have enjoyed using that special china?  How many opportunities slipped by to celebrate with those she loved that beautiful gift?

If we have learned anything these past six months, we should have learned the importance of the present moment and making the most of and celebrating each day and each moment as they come to us.  We should have learned how precious time is, especially times spent with those we love that we may have in the past taken for granted.

The writer of the beloved 90^th Psalm wisely encourages us to number our days, to be always aware of the brevity of life, how quickly life passes, that we may gain a heart of wisdom about how to live to the fullest the lives we have been given.  He goes on to encourage that we sing for joy and be glad all our days.  Or as another psalm puts it, to “wake the dawn with our song” (Psalm 108:2 NLT).

And in the end of the 90^th psalm, the writer draws a connection between living in the moment and finding joy in each day to the work that we do: combined with numbering our days and being glad all our days is offering a prayer that God bless and establish the work of our hands.

I must offer a second confession: I have not always heeded the psalmist’s suggestion.  There were times in the past when, rather than living in the moment and finding joy in the day at hand, I was jumping ahead to the future: to the time when I could drive and have my teenage freedom, to the time when I would graduate from college, to the time when I would be an ordained minister, to the time when I would graduate from seminary, to the day when that first book would be published, and so on. 

Could it be, as experienced by Joshua in that story of old, that every day we could find ourselves standing on holy ground?  That every encounter with the beauties of the natural world; every interaction with our partner or spouse, friend, or other family member; every story time with a child or grandchild; every conversation over coffee; every meal that we share with another; every opportunity we have to connect in a time of worship; could it be that it is holy ground?

Our daughter used to have a plaque hanging in her kitchen bearing a saying that has been attributed to a number of different people.  The plaque read: “Yesterday is history.  Tomorrow is a mystery.  Today is a gift . . . that’s why they call it the present.”

By the way, as a side note, several years ago Mary Lou and I decided that each meal should be special and we should have special dishes to eat from to enjoy them.  Now, we don’t use the best china for everyday eating; we do use it occasionally.  But we decided to replace the plain, white dishes we were using every day with something that was more festive and colorful.  The first set we bought was the Blue Willow pattern.  Then we added a set of Christmas cardinal dishes for winter days.  And then we added a butterfly meadow set for spring and summer that features wildflowers, butterflies and dragonflies.  It is a little thing, but it adds a bit of joy to each meal and each day.

What are other ways that we might cherish and bring joy to each day and celebrate each moment?  True wisdom is learning to number, appreciate, make the most of, and find joy in each day that we are given.  And it is figuring out a way to be grateful for and find joy in the work of our hands that we are given to do.  So, what is the most important time of your life?  It is today.  May it be so.  Amen.