Jar of Earth

The idea has come to me from several pious people, the notion of keeping a jar of earth on my desk to remind me of my eventual death.

Morbid?

I don't think so, even though our western minds are conditioned in such a way.  Consider how you might live if you knew your time was up tomorrow.    Would you not make the effort to correct a wrong? to seek forgiveness or to grant it?  to make peace in a challenging relationship?  

Would you not speak loving words to your family and friends?   Have you ever heard the painful plea of someone who has abruptly lost a loved one and wished for just one more moment to speak to that person?

Viewing our lives through the prism of death, knowing that our time on earth is just temporal, can give us a much needed perspective in this noisy modern age.  And what's more - so much more- is knowing that through our lives, that soul-filled garden,  God may nourish others by his abundant grace.

 *A related post.