Recently like many, I found myself ill with a flu and a cold. As I get older it seems harder to bounce back and this has led me to reflect on mortality and life itself. As I armed myself with anti biotics, cold and flu medications and tried to rest it became obvious that my pace of life, outflanks my physical capacity.
We begin the race against time once we are born. Our lives it would appear are always in expectation be it school, or exams or marriage or work performance and we often race from task to task as if we were 8 years old without taking the time either to reflect or to pause. We seek to impress those around us be it our neighbours, our family or our employers. Thus our mental capacity lags behind our headlong flinging ourselves into activities, or projects.
An illness is often seen as an inconvenience as it forces us to stop and take stock of our life. It makes us reflect a little more deeply on the realities of life and what is important to us. When we are ill, we no longer prepare the elaborate meals that took so much time, we are less likely to socially engage and we find we lack the energy for deeper discussions or even reading.
An illness forces us to stop.
In many ways our spiritual lives mirror our physical lives. There are times when our spiritual life simply becomes too cluttered. We race through novenas, attend workshops and try to gain the favour of God by our spiritual prowess or piety. At one time we find it overwhelming and we are reminded of our Lord's counsel when he said " come to me all ye who labour and I will give you rest"
I believe that resting in God, as is resting the mind, or the body is essential to our sanity. A cold, covid or the flu is an opportunity therefore not to be cursed but to force us back to our senses and to allow us to rest in the Lord.
Memento mori
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