As part of my spiritual discipline of reading Scripture in this new phase of my life, I want to read it as speaking to my personal experience in this chapter of my life. I want to listen with a new set of ears. For example, I have read Matthew 24:36 many times. “But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” For many Christians, it speaks of the coming of Christ. It assures believers that this world and its history has a point. It is going somewhere and God through Christ will triumph in the end. The prayer, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” is not an unrealistic dream but a realistic expectation. Our efforts for good are not in vain but are part of the fulfillment of history that will take place.
That is how I have always read that passage and in a macro sense I still read it that way. But, in addition to that understanding, I am now listening in a more personal way. It is captured in the metaphor used to describe a person’s death. They say that s/he has gone to meet his or her maker. While it has always been true, my death is a lot more likely in this phase of my life than in previous times. I can no longer live under the illusion of immortality. It may not happen in the next ten years but it is likely to happen in less than twenty years. However, as the verse says, “about that day and hour” I do not know. How am I to now live in the face of a limited time left on this earth?
Later in the passage, Matthew 25:13, it says, “Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” From a personal standpoint, I need to explore how I can keep awake to the imminence of my own death. I do not see that as a depressive reality but rather as a new challenge and adventure.
How do you view that phase of your life?
