THE IDES OF MARCH

"So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom." (Psalm 90:12)

On this Friday the 13th I find myself reflecting upon the passage of time, which is something I often do. On one radio talk show today, a caller insisted that March 13 is the "Ides of March", that is, the day on which Julius Caesar was assasinated. The host thought it happened on March 15. The caller was not persuaded, but the host was correct. The Ides of March is March 15. One reason that date is burned into my memory is that my daughter was married last year on the Ides of March, on March 15, 2008, in Springfield, Missouri. I mailed off an Anniversary card to Amy and David today, and I e-mailed them anniversary wishes. I don't feel old enough to have a daughter that's a married adult!

Every year around this time I remember the first automobile accident I had. It was on March 12, 1973. The accident involved three cars and I was in the middle. I was plowed from the rear by a middle-aged man driving a 1972 Ford LTD and pushed into a Cadillac. In the impact my glasses flew off and were later found on the floor of the back seat. I've had a few car accidents in my driving career, but that one was the worst. I was eighteen years old. My father, the Registry of Motor Vehicles official was pretty upset. He expect everyone in the family to drive (well, "operate"...see my last entry) perfectly. Many people he'd taught to drive had "perfect driving records", and at age 18, my driving record was already shattered in his eyes.

I can vividly remember that car accident. I can bring it back in my memory as if it happened only days ago. It seems impossible that it happened thirty-six years ago. Although 1973 is the topic of a current police drama on television about some cop who went back to fight crime in the distant past of 1973, to me, 1973 doesn't seem like it was long ago at all! I decided to figure out how old I will be thirty-six years from now. I was shocked to compute that in thirty-six years it will be 2045 and I will be 90!

The Ides of March falls at an interesting time of year. In some parts of the country it's quite Spring-like right now. In much of Florida, it's SUMMER-like. In New England, at the cusp between winter and spring, temperatures can swing between 27 and 72 depending on the particular day. It's a time of year that we think of life coming forth from death. On the other hand, it's a time of year we think of death, i.e. Julius Caesar and at least one of those cars on Washington Street, Canton in 1973! For some reason I was thinking of the short story, "The Lottery" this week. I remember that being read to our English Class by Mrs. Kane when I was a Sophomore in high school It's a fictional account of a colonial American village where a lottery takes place each spring to see who will be stoned to death to placate nature and insure a good harvest. Yes, the Ides of March can really bring on some deep philosophical thinking!

Last year, Easter was VERY early. In fact, it was the earliest it had fallen it about a hundred years, and my understanding is that it won't fall this early for over another hundred years. I was complaining last year about how early Holy Week and Easter fell last year. (Palm Sunday last year was March 16.) I really prefer Holy Week and Easter to fall in April, as is the case this year, but in retrospect, in the midst of the tension and bleakness of March, it WAS nice to celebrate Jesus' resurrection!

If you've ever watched that tearjerker cartoon, "Charlotte's Web" you remember the song about how very special we are for just a moment in time. In a literal, physical sense, that's true. The Bible says, life is but a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away (see James 4:14). For those who know the Lord, THIS life is just a dress rehearsal for eternity.

Well, that's my musing about the Ides of March on Friday the 13th. I can't stop the fact that I'm aging by the second and that in thirty-six years I'll be 90! But I can rejoice in the fact that because of what Jesus Christ has done for me, I have a glorious eternity to look forward to!