August 23, 2013 Commentary on Henri Nouwen's Daily Meditation

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Daily-Meditation--The-Quality-of-Life.html?soid=1011221485028&aid=jc7vjXl0bho

In case the link above doesn't show:
Henri Nouwen's Daily Meditation--
Friday August 23, 2013 

"The Quality of Life

It is very hard to accept an early death.  When friends die who are seventy, eighty, or ninety years old, we may be in deep grief and miss them very much, but we are grateful that they had long lives.  But when a teenager, a young adult, or a person at the height of his or her career dies, we feel a protest rising from our hearts:  "Why?  Why so soon?  Why so young?  It is unfair."
But far more important than our quantity of years is the quality of our lives.  Jesus died young.  St. Francis died young.  St. Thérèse of Lisieux died young, Martin Luther King, Jr., died young.  We do not know how long we will live, but this not knowing calls us to live every day, every week, every year of our lives to its fullest potential."

My understanding of Nouwen's message today:
Thinking about the quality of life is always interesting when you have to spend time in the hospital.  From Wednesday through Thursday, I was fighting off a viral infection from mosquito bites I received Monday night when our car broke down.  I was told if I even chanced waiting another day before going Wednesday, I may have risked toxicity... death!  Scary stuff but I believe we all need to ground ourselves in the reality that our lives matter to God and to our families, friends and neighbors.  We were created out of a love we can never fathom.  The Triune God breathed life into us and we are His children! Every moment of everyday, we need to remind ourselves of the many layers of GRACE our lives are showered, sustained and nurtured by.  I am grateful to God for all He has given me, where He's leading me and who He has placed in my life. May God Bless Your Fridays!

Nicole Collins