What is Life?

There is a haunting verse found in James 4:14(NIV) that says “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” 

More times than not when I do a funeral this is a scripture I use.  This verse came back to me while visiting with my parents this past weekend at my house. It was a beautiful sunny day out. In just a few hours we would be meeting up with other friends and family to celebrate my niece and nephew’s birthday. Out of nowhere my mom said “not to bring down the conversation but when either of us pass away...would you come down to Milwaukee and help make preparations? The way I see it is I have about 12 to 15 years left and I am starting to get a bit scared.” Now I must admit this was a huge downer for me. Not necessarily the topic I wanted to talk about but I guess I understand the concern. My dad chimed in as well as we talked about how long grandma and grandpa lived. Both of my parents are in their 70’s and it can be scary times as others they have known have passed in this age range. I wonder what made my parents think about this. 

It is interesting how my mom stated time just crept up on her really quick and here she is now in her 70’s. I know for a fact there is so much more my mom wants to do but because of health and possibly age, she simply cannot do it. It is still my dream to get my dad to a Green Bay Packers game as he has never been to the stadium. They are realizing that we are simply “a mist that appears for a little while”. This has caused me to really cherish all of the small things in life and make the most of each opportunity with friends and family.

There is a Zen teaching that says “when you drink tea, drink tea.” In other words live in each moment and truly embrace it because next thing you know time has slipped away.