“Teach us to number or days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” -Psalm 90:12

My cousin David was in a serious auto collision a few years back. His girlfriend was killed outright, he lingered in critical condition for a few days before succumbing to his injuries. While praying for his  full healing, and after his death, I opened his Facebook page and looked at his photos. They were photos of happiness, of love, of achievement- a solid guy with a big heart and a level head, enjoying life with a woman he loves.

In an instant, all of that is disrupted.  A sudden swerve, a turn, a choice, a moment of neglect or distraction, and lives are changed forever, upended, broken, gone. A life will never be the same.

Isn’t that true in any instant? Every moment, every day is here and now, and in the next turning it’s then and there, gone forever. The Psalmist urges us to not only count/number/treasure each day, but promises that doing so will gain us a heart of wisdom. Not head of wisdom, but something deep, with sense and sensation, feeling, emotion. An appreciation of each  passing moment that never returns.

In this awareness, the immediacy of life, the preciousness of living, is ours to savor, roll around on our tongue, and swallow whole. It’s all we have really. Just moments to live. This moment, and this one and this one, until our moment comes. Living in the wisdom that each day is numbered, finite, to be treasured, makes even a lousy day a blessing. As the Talmudists say, “An hour of life is still life.”

How will you make today count?

Joe Laur is a father, husband, artist, builder, naturalist, consultant, and EcoKosher mashgiach. He lives with his wife Sara in western Massachusetts, where he serves as head groundskeeper and resident singer songwriter. Send him your favorite teaching quote for commentary. He can be reached at joe.laur@joelaur.com.