Numbering our days...

I'm a little late posting a memory verse for the second half of September...pondering the subject of "time" lately, so I chose one I sort of already know - also because I feel a need to spend a couple of weeks reviewing and cementing a few earlier passages! So, here's the memory verse for the rest of the month:

Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Psalm 90:12

I decided to break out a couple of words for closer inspection -
Number - as a verb - count, assess or estimate the quantity of something...
Aright - correctly, properly...
Gain - secure something desired, favorable, profitable; reach a desired destination...

I think we can all agree that "a heart of wisdom" is something desirable...something to be secured...a destination worth reaching. And attaining that has something to do with how we "number our days;" how we view, live in and respond to time itself.

I just finished up "When the Heart Waits" by Sue Monk Kidd and she concluded with a discussion of some "gifts of the soul" that come to those who've trusted in God as they wait. These gifts include delight, enjoying the gift of creation, God's nurturing heart, authenticity and compassion. Also numbered among the gifts was "attunement" - learning to be genuinely present in life, in the here and now, rather than dwelling on the past or anticipating the future. She writes:

"Time isn't a straight line along which we travel.
It's a deep dot in which we dwell."

In "numbering my days aright" I want to dwell deeply in the present - the gift of this day God has given - and make the most of every moment - every opportunity to drink in beauty and delight in God; to share love and compassion; to live authentically.

Teach me, Lord.