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Living with a Sense of Urgency
I asked my dear friend Caren Austen to write about the life-upending diagnosis that, in a single moment of time, changed absolutely everything about her life. “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:12 Cerebral atrophy. That was the diagnosis resulting from a recent MRI. Deterioration of the brain. After judiciously researching the diagnosis, a consultation with a friend in the medical field confirmed the most likely cause that my brain is shrinking: Alzheimer’s. A singular moment with horrific implications. At 66, I was stung as the future I had anticipated seemed to be snatched away. The time I likely would not…
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Coming to terms with the brevity of life
Psalm 90:1–12 is part of the lectionary readings for the twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost, which is October 25th. The ode is regarded as a communal lament, that is, a hymn initially composed to express the grief and sorrow of God’s people over a distressing circumstance. The precise nature and cause of the anguish remains unknown, being sketched only in the broadest of terms. Some conjecture that while the poem contains some ancient stylistic elements, it still is a literary mixture that was created in Israel sometime after the nation’s exile into Babylon. In contrast, conservative Bible scholars think there is sufficient evidence to support the historical association of Moses to…