For some it’s a sprint. For others it’s a marathon. We can deal in probabilities and reckon that a late-life career change may limit the time to be served. Baptized as an infant (and here I must invite my Baptist friends to allow me a little slack), we can expect God to see (even if we cannot see it ourselves) the whole life picture.
People have wondered. ‘One crowded hour of glorious life / Is worth an age without a name,’ said one. ‘Another thought: ‘Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.’ One took a slightly different line: ‘Tis better to have fought and lost / Than never to have fought at all.’
We can view life as capable of indefinite extension or we can see life as made up of moments of quality. This is a question not confined to the religious ones amongst us. It is a balance we all have to strike. We have probably all felt like saying: ‘Lord, let me know mine end and the number of my days; that I may be certified how long I have to live.’ But it is rarely given to us know such things.
And just as well. We cannot live intensely 24/7. We mortals are not made for that. We need our rest and recreation. We need perspective. By the grace of God we do our stint.
Perhaps there is one little point to attend to. Much service in local churches is voluntary Often it is taken with a full heart and with no thought whatsoever about how it will end. We may find ourselves embarrassing our friends when they can see we are past it and don’t realise it. We can do them a favour. We can remember there is a place for those, as Milton said, who also serve as they stand and wait.
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