In my practice of faith, I recently came across a request that also seems like a declaration in the Book of Psalms. In it, the author writes, “Teach us to know the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom.” This past season has been a particularly hard section of my life. As I've held on throughout the challenge of it, I'm recognizing how valuable it is to know the brevity of life. In dark times, we naturally long for lovelier times. For me, I've desperately wanted my circumstances to change. Yet, I've discovered that if they changed or even if they didn't, what was coming up from inside of me would still remain if I refused to deal with it.
When I consider the brevity of life in the midst of hardship, I have been finding perspective. That perspective includes how my current state of feeling rather empty is creating space for something. I don't really know what that something is at the moment, but this process of being emptied of things I was holding onto (plans, beliefs about how circumstances would unfold, expectations of myself, and more), has allowed me to witness ways of being and beliefs I've been carrying that are out of alignment with truth. It's like cleaning house and getting into the corners of the rooms and closets to discover what has grown in the absence of my attention.
I'm finding that as I gain understanding here, wisdom has room to offer me a much greater perspective about how I spend my days, what and whom I invest in and why, and what matters and what doesn't. The last bit can be particularly confusing because I think our circles and our culture speak to us a lot about what “should” matter to us. Yet, I often find the advice or those “shoulds” to be quite backward, though I still wrestle with them of course.
Enduring ongoing hardship is not my idea of a good time but I'm truly curious how life will unfold from here as I sit in this empty space. I sure need to grow in wisdom. I'm also grateful for what I'm gaining in better knowing the brevity of my life. It's helping me to stay the course. Maybe it will help you, too.