Living a good life

M said to me yesterday at P’s father’s funeral what does it mean to live a good life? How does one live a good life especially in one’s “golden” years? 

At the funeral service the pastor chose Ecclesiastes chapter three and what he expounded on affirmed my own belief. Life without God is one which is futile for earthly life ends when one dies and there is nothing one can do to prevent this. The gift of eternal life is ours if we see and live our lives through the eyes of God, in faith and hope, and in love. 

For me, Ecclesiastes 3:11-13 reveals His truth precisely: 

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.

This chapter begins with this thought: there is a time for everything, a season for every activity. So the heartbeats in life are mapped out from the day we are born to the day we die. We cannot alter this timeline nor do we actually know when we will die for that singular moment is in God’s hands. What we can determine is how we live out each heartbeat, to compose the music of eternal life in our present lives by living a good life, not so much by seeking hedonistic pleasure but by doing good, cooperating with our Creator and living in step with the rhythms He has set in our lives.      

Having reached the age where I am reminded of my years by muscle stiffness, creaky joints, a failing memory and constant physical exhaustion, I know it will only get worse with time. Ageing is not pretty, nor is it for the faint-hearted. And when illness set in, the end can look awfully grim. 

So why did God allow this season of returning to Him be one of disease and decay? I see it as a way to bring me to my senses, a reminder of my mortality so that perhaps I will strive harder each day to live out my mission here on earth more fervently and fruitfully. 

Can one bear fruit when one is diminished in physical capacity? I would like to think yes. I have only to look at the example of my father in his dying months when he needed help with everything, needing to be fed and cleaned like a baby. He accepted his state of life with humility and grace. He never complained. He taught me humility, courage, perseverance and hope. His faith shored up my faith. 

The jagged edges of our broken relationship melded together in those interminable days of being caregiver and care receiver, of love given and love received. God was in the details of that slow, agonizing journey of my father’s death and I was blessed, impossibly enriched to have been part of that journey. The Lord made everything beautiful even in those days of suffering and grief for it also marked the beginning of my wholehearted return to Him and His ways. 

I do not know how or when I will die. I do however know it will be sooner rather than later and if I want to spend eternity in bliss, my behaviour today determines this. I can only pray that I am guided to doing good till the end of life so that people who knew me will say she lived a good life meaning that I touched many lives in positive ways and brought about good, transforming people and their lives. 

In the meantime I also choose to lead a good life by being grateful for what I have been given today, to be full of joy, at peace with my ageing body and content to walk at the pace the Lord has set as I do His will.