Billy Coffey
Billy Coffey

Written on my 2,555th day

November 6, 2009  

photo courtesty of photobucket.com

photo courtesty of photobucket.com

I’m nerdy enough to admit that the History Channel occupies much of the time I spend in front of the television. And despite the fact that lately it’s begun to focus more on the apocalypse than the past, it’s still quality viewing. You can learn a lot about the present by looking over your shoulder. You can learn a lot about yourself, too.

I spent an hour the other day getting a quick education on daily life in 1700s America. Fascinating stuff. It was a time when our country was wild and new, a land of opportunity fraught with struggle and danger. Much like now, I suppose. And of the countless facts the producers recreated and shared, one stood out.

Medicine in the eighteenth century was anything but modern. What doctors would call a manageable disorder today could have been a death sentence then. The diagnosis of many conditions and ailments was at best unreliable and at worst impossible.

Add to that the fact that the world was a violent place and doctors were relatively scarce and poorly trained beyond the few major cities, and you begin to understand why the life expectancy for your average American male was thirty years.

That’s right. Thirty.

That trivial tidbit was supposed to be filed away in the large portion of my brain reserved for useless information, but it wouldn’t fit. It seemed too important to be useless and too profound to be information. I couldn’t help but think there was something in that fact that should be held onto and pondered.

That God has His reasons for everything is something I’ve always held to be true. There are no coincidences, and nothing in life is an accident. If the history of our times are a story, then our chapter could only be written in this one part. We are all here, now, for a reason.

If God had seen fit to put me in this world three hundred years ago instead of thirty-seven, I would likely be dead by now. That’s a sobering thought. In a way, I’m living on borrowed time. It’s almost as if I’ve been given seven years that another me in another time would have been denied.

I’m wondering if knowing that piece of information seven years ago would have had any lasting impact. Would it have given me a needed sense of urgency in my life? Maybe. Maybe I would have seen those extra 2,555 days between then and now as the gift they’ve been. Maybe I wouldn’t have wasted so many of them.

I wouldn’t have spent so many of those days worrying. Wouldn’t have spoiled so many of them with anger. Maybe I wouldn’t have thrown so many of those days away by chasing the inconsequential pursuits of life.

We live in amazing times. Health care is no longer an art or a practice of guess-and-pray, it’s a science. Diseases are routinely cured, and even when they aren’t many who suffer from them continue to live normal and vibrant lives. Life expectancy is now over seventy years, and I recently read where babies born now can expect to live close to a century. In the 1700s I would be considered an old man, but in this century I’m still considered young and in the prime of my life.

But that’s no reason to gloat. I realize that now.

The quality of our days doesn’t depend upon their number, but the number of defining moments in them. Those moments when our sights are raised from the ground beneath us to the treasures around us, when our eyes are turned outward to the hurts of others rather than inward to our own, and when we realize for even the briefest of moments that the burdens of this world are as fleeting as the world itself.

We are made for more than we are, giants in small bodies. “A little lower than the angels,” the Bible says. The days that are bestowed to us should be treated as worthy of our standing. Our moments shouldn’t be regarded as more of the mundane, but as opportunities to grasp a little more of heaven and a little less of earth.

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Comments

  • Caroline

    Just apt. Been thinking today about my age and life as it is. Made me feel some momentary despair, then I thought of the Author of life and things settled….then I read this post and the settling continued. Thank you!

  • http://clarity-chaos.blogspot.com Boy Crazy (@claritychaos)

    I’ve been ruminating on similar ideas lately. There must be something in the air.

  • http://www.BridgetChumbley.com Bridget

    “The quality of our days doesn’t depend upon their number, but the number of defining moments in them.”

    Amen! I hope you are on the mend, Billy. Still praying…

  • http://mulledvine.com Mulled Vine

    Carpe Deim, seize the day, etc. It is all very noble and warm and encouraging, but the reality is that we don’t know when we are going to die, so we have to pace ourselves with a sustainable existence that involves dull things like work and taking out the garbage.

    I like the Brother Lawrence approach of doing everything, even the mundane, for God. That’s what makes the difference.

    So often one hears these calls to live each day as our last and think that means we have to give everything up and live with native Africans. For some of us this will be the case, but for the rest of us, this means doing everything as if “unto the Lord”.

  • http://shortybearsplace.blogspot.com/ Denise

    You have my continued prayers friend.

  • http://heathersunseri.blogspot.com Heather Sunseri

    “Our moments shouldn’t be regarded as more of the mundane, but as opportunities to grasp a little more of heaven and a little less of earth.”

    Thanks, Billy. This post is going to stay with me for a while!

    I’m still praying! Hope you feel well soon.

  • http://forevrenevernalways1.blogspot.com Jill

    AMEN! Praying over you and trusting God to work through this time of slowing down!

    Oh to grab hold of heaven a little bit more every day!

    Blessings,
    Jill

  • http://peacefulplace-jamey.blogspot.com/ Jamey

    As a parent who has lost a child I have learned that every moment of life you are given is a treasure. Many never get the chance to grow old and lose their lives much too early and yet many complain they are aging and worrying about that without realizing the gift of life they have before them. Every moment of life can be a defining one if we want it to be.

  • http://www.ubervu.com/conversations/www.billycoffey.com/2009/11/written-on-my-2555th-day/ uberVU – social comments

    Social comments and analytics for this post…

    This post was mentioned on Twitter by sarahmsalter: RT @katdish RT @billycoffey Written on my 2,555th day : Billy Coffey http://bit.ly/3XVDVU…

  • http://bzzbyannies.blogspot.com Annie K

    So…technically, in 1700’s speak you’d be an old man. (snort!).

    Great post Billy.

  • http://theextraordinaryordinary.blogspot.com Heather of the EO

    This is one of my favorites. I needed to read it today and I know I’ll need to read other days. It’s a print outable kind of post. Thank you, Billy.

  • http://faithfictionfriends.blogspot.com Glynn

    The older I get (the more of those days that go by), I find my definition of what matters is changing profoundly. It is, as you say, a little more about heaven and a little less about earth. Great post, Billy.

  • http://www.moonboatcafe.com Cassandra Frear

    I love your writing.

    You’ve suffered. It has added a substance and validity to your words. The reader feels that something important is being said.

    I hope you feel much better soon.

    I, too, am living past the day I thought I might. God’s ways are mysterious.

  • http://makeadiff21.com Ginny (MAD21)

    I’m glad you didn’t just “file this away under useless information.” We need whatever we can to keep thing in perspective. Remember what is important, and be thankful for every minute we have.

    Thanks, Billy :)

  • http://roxanesalonen.blogspot.com Roxane B. Salonen

    Billy, I’ve pondered similar thoughts before…about God putting us in this exact place and space at this particular time. We have more time than those in the past, perhaps — more time to screw up, too. It might not be the blessing it seems, though of course, it is, because each and every day is a blessing, and if we can recognize this gift, we can make good on it. May this day, this gift, be a great one for you.

  • http://www.randommusings-helen.blogspot.com Helen

    So in the 1700’s, I’d be considered old enough to be Methusaleh’s great grandmama, but today I’m still young and cute *snort*. COOL!

  • http://susan-moment.blogspot.com/ Susan

    Truly our times are in His hands, aren’t they? And what better place could they be. Blessings of peace and health for you.

  • http://joannesher.blogspot.com Joanne Sher

    Powerful and poignant, as usual, Billy. Thank you – and praying for your health, my friend.

  • http://www.justsaytheword.wordpress.com nAncY

    fantastic !

  • http://wendy-ericgunderson.blogspot.com wendy

    I love your writing. I. Love. It.
    enough said

  • http://www.pridelandsmommy.blogspot.com *~Michelle~*

    yikes…..if you would be considered an old man, then I would be decrepit or possible have rigor mortis settling in.

    a harsh reality for me…..is that if I wasn’t saved by God’s grace, I am guessing I would not have made it to my thirties. And I make sure I thank God for every day he has given me since.

    Praying you are on your way to feeling 100%!

  • http://lauraboggess.blogspot.com laura

    My grandpa lived to be 100. When I turned 40 last year, my 12 year old told me, “just think, half of your life is over!”

    wow. sobering thought. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately about the story i tell with my life. In the end, the legacy that I want to leave is that of one who glorified God.

    Thanks, Billy, for these thought provoking words. I’m glad you are feeling better.

  • christy rose

    My husband seems to think that the tv only has two channels too! The history channel and ESPN!
    I am glad that you have made it to day 2,555. Here is to 2,555 more and just think how much wisdom you will have encountered by then! :)

  • http://lexiconluvr.blogspot.com L.T. Elliot

    Those moments when our sights are raised from the ground beneath us to the treasures around us, when our eyes are turned outward to the hurts of others rather than inward to our own, and when we realize for even the briefest of moments that the burdens of this world are as fleeting as the world itself.

    Whatever you may be, Billy Coffey, you are wise. I love it here. Truly. I come and drink deep from the well of your words and find that Grace that is God’s. I told Heather of the E.O. that when I found her blog, I found a piece of God. I have never said the same of anyone else before now. He’s sprinkled all over here and I leave this place fuller than when I came.
    Many thanks and God Bless.