Number the days

"A well-written life is almost as rare as a well-spent one."
Thomas Carlyle

In some early monasteries monks were known to dig one shovelful of earth from their own grave every day as a reminder of their own mortality. We find the same idea is found in the prayer in Psalm 90 (which we could call an extract from the blogg of Moses) which says, ‘Teach us so to number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom!’ As we move into another year we have the joy of knowing that God is with us in this, just as He was in the previous year. Circumstances change our life, the words of Jesus tell us not to be anxious about anything.

King Oswald of Northumbria (c. AD 605 - AD 642 ) did not live to enjoy a peaceful old age. Yet, the days of his reign brought peace to the kingdom. As a young boy he and his brothers were sent to the monks of Iona, initially to find safety but also to be given an education. It was there he became a Christian and a man of prayer. His deliberate stand for the faith can be seen when he raised up the wooden cross before the battle of Heavenfield.

He pleaded for missionaries from Iona to come to reach his people with the Gospel and was a willing servant to Aidan as an interpreter when of the native language.

He was known as a man of prayer and this was seen when, considering affairs of state or judging between petitioners, his hands would turn palms upwards to heaven in the manner of prayer common then – his training taught him to take every opportunity to pray for guidance and wisdom. With open palms he witnessed that each day, each moment, of his life was given in surrender to the God of his life.

Like Oswald and so many others before and after him, may we know the days in which we live and how we might best respond to them with the love and grace which God has promised to us all that we might bring glory and honour to His Name.

(Photo and full reference can be found at the Britannia.com website)