Featured artist: Ambrogio Lorenzetti (deceased)
No man has power over the wind to contain it; so no one has power over the day of his death.*
I knew a guy who had two older brothers each of whom died without warning in his sleep. They figured it was hereditary. Whenever I’d greet my friend with a, “How are you?” he’d just say, “Well, I woke up.”
Of course, we all woke up this morning, but for us it wasn’t so big a deal. Maybe it should be.
In England once, I came across some sayings from medieval times which included, “Sleep is a little death.”
Another: “Each day is a god.”
Certainly my friend had cause to think this way. I couldn’t tell that he did; just working his job, driving his car, playing his guitar, looking for sex.
Taking life too seriously, even when we know the end will eventually come, is just too serious.
For me the term, middle age, gets later all the time, the closer I get to it. Or have I long passed it?
Moses said, The length of our days is 70 years, or 80 if we have the strength.** Who knows what his age was when he wrote that? He lived to be 120.
If the 80 year life span was a 24 hour day starting at midnight, for me it’s already 9:00 p.m!!! How do I think about that? Pretty much like my friend above (except I haven’t even started learning guitar)!
There’s so much to do. So much to read. I love history. But there’s something about all the people in history: They’re all dead!
These days I find myself looking at birth years on the obituary pages. More and more I see my year.
The World Bank has calculated that in the United States the average longevity creeps up every year and is now 78.2. We enjoy the world’s highest, but for Bermuda and Canada, both slightly higher. I’m thinking that toward midnight I’ll move to Bermuda or Canada.
Meantime, the best I can do is eat moderately, worry little, keep love alive, and stay out of the way of fast moving objects.
It’s natural to hold onto life as long as we can. My mother at 93 still lives with my father of 95. She moves pretty slow; her eyes are dim, her pains deep. Still, at moments she keeps up her sense of humor with, “Well, it’s better than the alternative.”
When she will go, I don’t know. Nor, really, when I will. Or you.
The answer, my friend, to quote Bob Dylan (singing Solomonically), is blowing in the wind.
And none has power o’r the wind.
_______________
* Ecclesiastes 8:8
**Psalm 90:10
Next time, a break for some humor: Blog Spams. Coming Thursday.
Our Lives Together
Its About Life
3:01 am
Hyatt, that was so good! I laughed and yet it was quite sobering too. Thank you.
4:18 am
Always wise… always wonderful! Thank you for your gift of words and art…. of artful words. They always make my day! thanks for the reminder that each day truly is a gift.
6:33 am
Hyatt, i love your sense of humor. I do live in the moment most of the time. I do have to be better at not to sweat the small stuff. The older I get the small stuff is getting….. well smaller. Life is precious. Praise God we have hope in Him, because my years behind me have blown away quite quickly.
8:41 am
So GOOD! Thanks, Hyatt
10:10 am
Just as I finished reading your post, my wife called to tell me her co-worker’s husband who’s only in his mid thirties passed away yesterday from a heart attack. Without any warning nor any history of bad health, he suffered a heart attack, was in a coma briefly and died. I’ve only met him a few times but he was kind and gentle. He leaves behind a wife and a three year old son.
10:23 am
Pil, Thanks for yours. The same happened here . . . a good friend, Dave Williams, died yesterday, heart attack or electrical accident? Either way, a shock. Learned of it after posting this. For a painting I made of him once, with the main tool of his landscape trade, click here: http://bit.ly/QThaY5
10:27 am
I always love reading these pages! Who knew that my husband of 32 1/2 yrs., who survived 3 tours of duty to Viet Nam……2 major heart attacks……open heart surgery & others for arteries……who knew, that he would not survive his last angiogram! I sort of knew it was serious as I didn’t want anyone driving to Scripts with us….I just wanted my alone time with him! He knew something as well. In the night, we both awoke and held each other til the morning……….As soon as we arrived at the hospital, he was “chipper” and kept us all in smiles and laughter. We all got to pray for him. Then came the news he had suffered a heart attack during the procedure……but it wasn’t until late in the night, he was gone! I never took it in when the Dr. came throughout the day & night……1st it was overnight he’ll be here….then 3 days……then 7 days…..then my ? to him “are you telling me my husband has died”??????? But he always came through. Always came home…..but not that time!
We don’t know when our time comes. I think about it a lot now that he is gone. I wonder what it will be like for me……how will it happen…….All lI know is God is so good and will be with me always even to the ends of the earth!!!!
11:06 am
So…, how old are you (in dog years)?
11:12 am
I’m approaching a decade. Still plenty of bark. The bite more gentle. Fleas an ongoing nuisance.
12:18 pm
Hyatt, as usual you got me thinking. So I calculated the average age of my parents and grandparents at their death and took that as my life expectancy. So here I am at age 74 and on my life clock it is 7pm. End of Happy Hour and start of dinner time. Life is good!
12:20 pm
Jack. Besides that, you live in Canada!
1:57 pm
Nina and I have been talking recently about living in the moment and refusing to be burdened down by uncontrollable things going on around us.
LIfe is spinning by so fast. More and more I want to savor every day and every one around me. I appreciate the opportunity to savor time with you and my fellow artist in your studio.
Two quotes for reflection:
“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” George Bernard
“Contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want, but the realization of how much you already have.” Anonymous
3:08 pm
By God’s grace, I am living a good life despite it being past noon and well into the afternoon. I enjoyed your take on the subject!
7:47 pm
Wow everybody! You are all so amazing with your comments! I think when I am reading everyone’s————-I will say that or no, I will say that!!!!!!!!! But you all just say it so perfectly that all I can say most of the time is——yes, that is exactly how I feel! And Hyatt, I loved you popping in there on OUR Comment pages!!!!!!!!! You are so funny! Always! I love your humor!!!!!!!!!! Laughing helps us stay younger or stops the clock from getting later a bit! Yeah for laughing!!!!!!!!!! Let’s do more of that! Love Lisa
10:09 am
For some good pics of old people…
http://welcomeheart.com/journal/2012/8/20/the-gospel-and-aging.html
The good news is, Hyatt, that you’ll always be older than I am. And, in this case, older is wiser (well, mostly)
8:36 pm
Hyatt, how about more wag and less bark. Hey, I am glad I came back to read all of these good comments… enjoyable!