As a child I never understood when the women of my mother’s age discussed the speed of time. “How quickly the days go by,” they said and shook their heads. “Never used to be like that.” For me, days went on endlessly and the growing up process seemed to take forever.
I remember on trips with our own children who kept asking, every five minutes or so, “Are we there yet?” Time stretches when you’re a child and everything seems to take too long. Life simply IS when you are a child. In my childhood, laws and cultural norms favored life, not death.
Now that I am well into my senior years, much has changed in my life and in the culture–not all for good. I better understand the value of life and the importance of living each moment to the fullest. A person can not hide the truth of how fast life slides by while watching children and then grandchildren grow up–almost overnight.
Days telescope together one after another faster and faster every year–much like a speeding car. One week ends, it seems, almost before it has begun. “Where did the week go?” is asked in real bewilderment. When things are going well, time seems to fly by even faster. When things aren’t going so well, seeing the end of the week can, at times, bring a sense of relief. Yet, as long as there is life, there is hope.
For those who believe this life is all there is, the telescoping of time as we age must be frightening. Life flies by and however much you want to grasp it and hold on–you can’t. I can’t. A healthy diet and exercise may prolong life and give you a higher quality of life, but time still ticks away the minutes, hours, days, weeks and years.
Cosmetic surgery may make a person show a youthful face to the world, but doesn’t stop time from marching on. Yet the laws have given rise to a culture of selfishness that allows life to be taken from those with no voice and call it “choice.”
Life is precious at whatever stage. It should be held sacred. Life should be lived to the fullest, leaving behind a legacy of laughter, love and life well-lived for oneself and for others. Still, I am glad this life is not all there is. The speed of time may be disorienting, but doesn’t need to frighten. I can appreciate all God has provided here and now, yet accept that time and circumstances are in His hands.
I live in today’s joy, living His plan until He takes me to my final home with Him where time is no longer an issue. Still, I am thankful for life here and now. It is a precious gift that should not be taken lightly or ripped away from the most vulnerable among us–the pre-born child, the disabled or the elderly.
By Carolyn R Scheidies