Bell Curve of Life

"Naked I was born from my mother's womb and naked I will return." Job 1:21

Try as we might, we cannot get away from nakedness. And we do try. Life is spent in the accumulation of all manner of temporal goods--some material, some immaterial--but all temporal nonetheless. From early ages we gain cognition and ability to communicate. We develop faculties of thought and reasoning. We form relationships with others, have experiences, make memories. As we grow to independence we attain certain achievements and build a stock of possessions. All of this rising to a peak of powers, a period of micro-dominance as that original naked state is pushed to the furthest margins of memory. Some experience magnificent heights and some see sustained plateaus with no hint of decline for decades.

No matter how high that peak grows--however pronounced our intelligence, network, status, skillset, influence gets--it inevitably must return to the starting point of zero. Nakedness, like gravity, cannot be defied inevitably. The curse of our first father extends to us: "out of dust we were created and to dust we shall return." Some experience a sudden drop as they free fall to their end. Others experience the gradual decay as old age draws them over years to the self-same equilibrium. All that was once developed and built is slowly stripped away, piece by piece. That valued friend we have enjoyed for years is taken away from us. Our former physical strengths are now physical ailments. The attractive appearance is gone, the sharp mind we prided ourselves in is now slow and forgetful. In some instances the most precious memories can no longer be remembered as the decline continues to fade back to darkness. 

I am often struck by a sharp pang of sadness when nearing the end of a biography of a great life. A statesman like a Washington, Churchill, or Truman--great lives that undoubtedly altered the course of human history for good. But as their books near the end we see their time and generation slowly replaced by a new one. The power they once wielded is removed. The sagacity of wit and life vitality they possessed is diminished in the fog of old age. Even their designs for the future are resisted and in many cases undone by the next generation. Then even these heroes of civilization must revert to the dust--where now a comparative few care to remember them.

Winston Churchill's last words are recorded: "I'm bored with it all." There are many such cases.

It has to be the most colossal blunder to put all of our energy, toil, and confidence in a temporal peak. People will scrimp and save and plan and make sacrifices for a moment 20 years from now, while neglecting any corresponding effort to prepare for 100 years from now. Man will labor with utmost intensity for the food that perishes, and pay no heed to the food that endures to eternal life. The entire principle of investment demands that we put aside little for now so that we will have more later, yet the later the vast majority plans for is an early retirement and not that nakedness lying just beyond.

Puritan Thomas Brooks said, "Ah Christians! What is your whole life, but a day fit for the hour of death? What is your great business in this world, but to prepare and fit for another world?" The way to view our lives is not ignoring our end but rather peering through its lens, gazing through the glass of eternity. What a mistake it would be to enjoy a full life of much pleasure and reward, but then find yourself in the hour of death anxious and unprepared. Though it may seem morbid to dwell on this approaching moment, it is wisdom to think of it often: "Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom." Are you prepared for that moment when the "bell curve of life" bottoms out? Do you have any securities for eternity? Is there anything that will remain with you when this temporal realm fades away forever? Think on that coming moment and make necessary preparations. 

These last few years have engrained in my mind the temporary nature of our condition. Life is brief; everything we now see is passing away. Do not be caught unprepared by the one thing that is guaranteed. Put aside a little now so you will not be in a position of lack later. “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.”

May it be that we would meet the coming nakedness with joy, longing even, having found garments to cover us and laid a treasure there.