This Fleeting Thing

Do not act as if you were going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over you. While you live, while it is in your power, be good.Marcus Aurelius

Many say youth is fleeting. That is severely true, but I would say that what is even more pressing, and harder to resolve ourselves to, is the idea that our lives are fleeting. Yes, youth quickly fades into maturity, never to be obtained again, but our lives pass by like the scenery outside a car window. As Aurelius states, “Death hangs over you.” Although painful and emotion-stirring, one must face the unavoidable fact of mortality. The merciless progression of time will always win the race.

We do not have time to waste. We do not have time to spare. We are all guilty of forgetting about our own mortality. As we forget, we fall into patterns of reckless spending of that which we have so little — time. What, then, should we do about this unrelenting pounding of seconds? Although the answer is somewhat worn out, it is true, but it is not truly lived out by many, including myself. Carpe diem. Seize the day. Seize every second. We hear this idea of living every moment like it is our last, but how is that done? What does that look like when it is not this metaphysical, abstract idea floating in the clouds?

How do we live and not waste it? We do good and pursue good. We take risks. We use wisdom. We push ourselves beyond what we thought we could bear. We bear the weight of our mortality and do good nonetheless. We take on responsibility instead of aiming for comfort and convenience. We sacrifice our stagnation on the altar of striving for that which has true meaning. We make the decision to truly live because death hangs over us; we do not avoid the decision because it is hard.

We must orient ourselves toward the One who gets in the dirt with us and calls us out of the dirt. We do good because He beckons. Our vaporous existence is only justified through Him, who is beyond the ticking clock, who entered vapor with us. We must understand that memento mori, the inevitability of death, is what disciplines, and justification through Jesus is a gift when we orient ourselves to Him. That orientation takes sacrifice. We sacrifice this fleeting thing we call life to Him because only He can give it meaning.