Aug 13 2019 Romans 14: 7-12 Commemoration of Jeremy Taylor

We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves.
Jeremy Taylor was a priest and bishop in England. He wrote two books that were well revered and others found them of great benefit, The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living, and the Rule and Exercises of Holy Dying. I am intrigued by the titles, as my nature tends to appreciate structure, rules and exercises.

He also wrote prayers, which have been in various versions of our Book of Common Prayer. One I really appreciate reads, “O God, whose days are without end, and whose mercies cannot be numbered: Make us deeply aware of the shortness and uncertainty of human life…”

There is something oddly comforting in thinking about that shortness and uncertainty of life. It gives me permission to let go of the struggling and striving in this world. It makes little sense to hold on to any grudge, or hurt, or judgment, given the uncertainty of this life. We do not live to ourselves. At the end of this life we know, we aren’t the subject of this life any more. Maybe we shouldn’t be the subject of this life as we know it now.

I’m reminded of a game we used to play as a family. We used to have a word game where you had to come up with words starting with each letter of the alphabet to describe a random category. Fruits. Colors. Feelings. Whoever had the most number of blanks filled in, won that round. I remember when the category was Containers, being startled at the clarity of one of my kids’ answers. For B, most of us put box. One of my kids put body. That was a great discussion! My child was saying that the body was just a container for who they were. When the body was gone, they’d still be themselves. What clarity and wisdom from a junior high kid!

Life is uncertain and short. We are only vessels, containing our very essence. God is forever, and incomprehensibly merciful.

This morning I’m thinking about how uncertain and short my life is. As opposed to that feeling daunting or scary, I’m marveling at how freeing it is to live now as if now is fleeting, because it is.