Time marches on in its inexorable way. And a new year is with us. Occasions such as a new year or anniversary usually stir our minds into reflective moods. Our reflections turn to thoughts of time, life and our mortality. Questions on life; its meaning, purpose, expectations, hopes, fears tug at our minds. Even as we contemplate these, thoughts of our mortality keep intruding, demanding attention. Why not? Is it not a truth that only as we really face our mortality that the meaning and purpose of life become crystallized, and our zest for and value of life become magnified? Perhaps this is why the dawning of a new year is an opportune time to reflect on our mortality; not for morbid but practical reasons.
Finitude is a feature of human life. Mortality measures our days. Death ends our physical life. Of all living things only humans live with the consciousness of their mortality. For many, this awareness is a distressing source of despair. Life, it seems, is meaningless and purposeless if its sum total is toil, struggle and death. There are world views and outlooks on life which see human beings as simply higher evolved animals whose end is the same as lesser creatures – death. Despite flashes of enlightenment, moments of glory and glimpses of hope humans are doomed to an existence that is no more than a “chasing after the wind”. Vanity. Its end is death. This gives rise to pessimism and even fatalistic resignation.
The outlook that views life and death in the light of faith in God is the one that can face both with hope. Our mortality deepens our appetite for life in its fullest and richest experiences. For the Christ-centered life, reflections on the brevity and uncertainty of life do not lead to despair, angst, fear. With the Psalmist, Christians know that it is in “numbering our days” that we get a heart of wisdom. Our mortality helps us to understand that the meaning and purpose of our life is experienced and fulfilled as we love, live with and for God; love, live with and for our neighbour.