A very close college friend has cancer. He has been battling it for at least five years, and he is only 38 years old. They just went in to see what they could remove, but his midsection was too riddled with cancer to do any good.

As heartbreaking as this is, and as good a friend as he is to me, I still just move on with my life and forget about his mortality…and mine.

I jog on the sidewalk of a busy street, but which is separated by a strip of grass and a bike lane. I feel safe enough. But last week, to avoid a stopped car in front of him, a pickup truck came over the curb, onto the sidewalk right in front of me at about 45 miles per hour. He barely corrected himself and continued down the sidewalk, merging back onto the road when he could in certain embarrassment. My first thought was, “He almost crashed into that car!” It took me a few minutes to realize, “He almost crashed into me!” It is too uncomfortable to dwell on the fact that one of my kids often bikes with me, and in front of me.

Show me, O LORD, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life (Ps 39:4-5). All this to the end that I may live for you moment by moment, and die for you when my time comes; that I may cling to the cross and forsake all else; that I may gain Christ and be welcomed into his arms; that I may not fear evil and that I may not fear death; that I would trust your sovereignty even as I work out your will with both a sense of duty and delight.