Living with our mortality

I came across an article by Fr. Ronald Rolheiser. It helped me think through the recent experiences of people dying unexpectedly - not a surprising thing - occurs all the time but it strikes you and you grapple with it when it happens to persons you know well.

"All of us, without exception, irrespective of age or health, are vulnerable, contingent, mortal, one heartbeat away from leaving this planet, one stroke away from losing control of our lives, one accident away from knowing how illusory is the sense of our own strength....We can be careful with our lives, live prudently, try to ensure our own safety and the safety of our loved ones, but ultimately we are inadequate. We cannot ensure our own continued heartbeat. Awareness of our vulnerability and mortality is not meant to make us fearful, morbid, timid about life, or guilty about enjoyment. Nor is it meant to make us other worldly at the cost of denigrating this life.

It is an invitation to be faith; to try always to stand where we are supposed to be standing, in warmth, love, duty and enjoyment.

Am I standing where I'm supposed to be standing? Am I being faithful enough to who I am and what I believe in so as to be comfortable that, if today is my last day, I am doing what I'm supposed to be doing? "

Lord, May your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven....Come, Lord Jesus into our fragile lives, utterly dependent upon you. Amen