We hear in today’s responsorial psalm,
“Teach us to number our days aright,
“Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain wisdom of heart.”
Presumably this means wisdom has to do
with counting the days of our life correctly,
with neither overestimating nor underestimating them.
So I checked.
The average life-expectancy of a male in the U.S.
is 78.79 years.
By my calculation I am currently about 60.06 years old,
which means that I can number my remaining days
at 18.73 years, or 6836.45 days—
though that’s not counting leaps years,
which I think will get me an extra four days,
for a grand total of 6840.45 days.
More or less.
Presumably this means wisdom has to do
with counting the days of our life correctly,
with neither overestimating nor underestimating them.
So I checked.
The average life-expectancy of a male in the U.S.
is 78.79 years.
By my calculation I am currently about 60.06 years old,
which means that I can number my remaining days
at 18.73 years, or 6836.45 days—
though that’s not counting leaps years,
which I think will get me an extra four days,
for a grand total of 6840.45 days.
More or less.
It’s the “more or less” that is the problem.
Because averages presume
that some people live much longer lives
and others live much shorter.
I could live into my nineties, like my father has,
giving me an extra 4500 or so days,
or I could get run over in the parking lot after Mass today,
making my allotted days considerably fewer.
So as I strive to number my remaining days,
I’m stuck with a figure somewhere between
11,340.45 and zero.
Because averages presume
that some people live much longer lives
and others live much shorter.
I could live into my nineties, like my father has,
giving me an extra 4500 or so days,
or I could get run over in the parking lot after Mass today,
making my allotted days considerably fewer.
So as I strive to number my remaining days,
I’m stuck with a figure somewhere between
11,340.45 and zero.
“Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain wisdom of heart.”
But how can I number my days
amid so much uncertainty?
Should I spend my days
taking every possible precaution
to mitigate that uncertainty?
Should I plan and stockpile to make sure
that my future is as secure as possible?
But experience tells us that the only certain thing
is that no amount of planning and stockpiling
can eliminate uncertainty.
that we may gain wisdom of heart.”
But how can I number my days
amid so much uncertainty?
Should I spend my days
taking every possible precaution
to mitigate that uncertainty?
Should I plan and stockpile to make sure
that my future is as secure as possible?
But experience tells us that the only certain thing
is that no amount of planning and stockpiling
can eliminate uncertainty.
Perhaps the only way to number our days aright
is not to number them at all,
but to accept and embrace the truth
that however much we might try
to calculate and mitigate risk,
however many resources we store up
against future calamity,
the future is unknown and uncertain.
Our calculations are always off,
our stores of wealth are subject
to decay and corruption.
As the hymn writer Isaac Watts put it,
in a paraphrase of today’s psalm,
“Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away;
They fly forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the opening day.”
We know not the number of our days.
But the truly wise heart knows
that all that we have amassed and accumulated
to hold back time’s ever-rolling stream
will one day be reduced to dust.
That fine house,
that beautiful car,
that stock portfolio,
that power and influence and reputation—
they will all one day be gone.
It may be 11,340.45 days from now,
or it may be this very day,
but the truly wise heart knows
that the day will come.
And if we wish not to vanish with them
then we must place our hope not in passing things
but in the life offered to us by the one who is eternal.
is not to number them at all,
but to accept and embrace the truth
that however much we might try
to calculate and mitigate risk,
however many resources we store up
against future calamity,
the future is unknown and uncertain.
Our calculations are always off,
our stores of wealth are subject
to decay and corruption.
As the hymn writer Isaac Watts put it,
in a paraphrase of today’s psalm,
“Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away;
They fly forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the opening day.”
We know not the number of our days.
But the truly wise heart knows
that all that we have amassed and accumulated
to hold back time’s ever-rolling stream
will one day be reduced to dust.
That fine house,
that beautiful car,
that stock portfolio,
that power and influence and reputation—
they will all one day be gone.
It may be 11,340.45 days from now,
or it may be this very day,
but the truly wise heart knows
that the day will come.
And if we wish not to vanish with them
then we must place our hope not in passing things
but in the life offered to us by the one who is eternal.
In today’s Gospel
Jesus is questioned by a rich man
about what he must do to inherit eternal life.
After the man assures him
that he has kept all the commandments,
Jesus tells him, “Go, sell what you have,
and give to the poor
and you will have treasure in heaven;
then come, follow me.”
Jesus knows that what this man lacks
is in fact the only thing necessary:
to learn to number his days aright
so that he may gain wisdom of heart,
to place his hope not in his wealth,
but in Jesus, in whom is found
the depth of the riches
of the wisdom and knowledge of God.
Jesus is questioned by a rich man
about what he must do to inherit eternal life.
After the man assures him
that he has kept all the commandments,
Jesus tells him, “Go, sell what you have,
and give to the poor
and you will have treasure in heaven;
then come, follow me.”
Jesus knows that what this man lacks
is in fact the only thing necessary:
to learn to number his days aright
so that he may gain wisdom of heart,
to place his hope not in his wealth,
but in Jesus, in whom is found
the depth of the riches
of the wisdom and knowledge of God.
For the rich man to number his days aright
is for him to recognize that it does not matter
whether the days that lie ahead of him
number 11,340.45 or zero,
for the only day that matters is this day,
the day on which he meets Jesus,
who speaks to him the words,
“come, follow me”:
follow me on the journey
from this world of anxious uncertainty,
this world of decay and death,
into the world of life eternal.
is for him to recognize that it does not matter
whether the days that lie ahead of him
number 11,340.45 or zero,
for the only day that matters is this day,
the day on which he meets Jesus,
who speaks to him the words,
“come, follow me”:
follow me on the journey
from this world of anxious uncertainty,
this world of decay and death,
into the world of life eternal.
We are told that the man,
“went away sad,
for he had many possessions.”
He went away sad
because all that he had amassed
in his futile quest to hold at bay
time’s ever-rolling stream
now stood in his way
like an insurmountable obstacle
blocking his path on the journey to eternity.
“How hard it is for those who have wealth
to enter the kingdom of God!”
“went away sad,
for he had many possessions.”
He went away sad
because all that he had amassed
in his futile quest to hold at bay
time’s ever-rolling stream
now stood in his way
like an insurmountable obstacle
blocking his path on the journey to eternity.
“How hard it is for those who have wealth
to enter the kingdom of God!”
“Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain wisdom of heart.”
Teach us, Lord, that our days may be few or many,
but that the only day that matters is this day,
for this is the day that Jesus stands before us
and says, “come, follow me.”
Teach us, Lord, to know what is
the one thing necessary,
to not let fear of loss
of wealth or power or reputation
keep us from answering your call.
Teach us, Lord, to trust
that with you all things are possible,
that through your grace even we,
weak and frightened and clinging to this life,
can become sons and daughters of God,
and heirs with you to eternal life.
May God’s grace grant to us
true wisdom of heart,
and may God have mercy on us all.
that we may gain wisdom of heart.”
Teach us, Lord, that our days may be few or many,
but that the only day that matters is this day,
for this is the day that Jesus stands before us
and says, “come, follow me.”
Teach us, Lord, to know what is
the one thing necessary,
to not let fear of loss
of wealth or power or reputation
keep us from answering your call.
Teach us, Lord, to trust
that with you all things are possible,
that through your grace even we,
weak and frightened and clinging to this life,
can become sons and daughters of God,
and heirs with you to eternal life.
May God’s grace grant to us
true wisdom of heart,
and may God have mercy on us all.
