Dead-lines

smile that cleaned his froth-smeared lips.

“I simply couldn’t think of proposing to someone to try an ‘experiment’ for his or her spiritual life.”

“Ok, then let’s not call it one. Let’s just say that we’re setting dead lines,” he said. He raised an eyebrow and wiggled it as if inviting me to agree to his proposal.

“So, how exactly does this ‘experiment’ or ‘suggestion’ work?”

“Actually, Father, that’s the reason I wanted you to hear this so that we could both come up with something more applicable. Thus, I won’t have to call it an experiment and won’t have to look for some spiritual guinea pig to try it on.”

“Agreed….” I felt more at ease and started putting some creamer into my coffee.

“Let’s put it this way, Father. Are you ready for this one?”

“What?”

“Oh, a very simple question: How much longer do you think you have to live?”

“Being a priest, I guess I’m always inclined to say ‘What’s important is to be ready!’ since we really never know when it’s our time.”

“That’s exactly what I mean, Father.” He suddenly became excited as if he was only waiting for that very reply from me.

“What do you mean?”

“The common and dull reply of ‘what’s important is to be ready,’ is nothing but a ‘spiritual comfort zone.’”

“Spiritual comfort zone?” I asked.

“If we have material comfort zones, logically there are also spiritual ones, don’t you agree?”

“You mean another expression for being superficial or lukewarm?” I clarified.

“Touché!”

“So what are you proposing?”

“I propose we transform this cliché into something real and converting of the person.”

“And how does your experiment come in?”

“As you said, Father, let’s call it a proposal or a suggestion. My proposal is that instead of comfortably saying ‘to be always ready’, why not set a deadline.”

“I’m a little lost,” I confessed. “What kind of deadline?”

“Of course, what else could it be but your death.”

“But I strive to foster the habit, and I encourage everyone as well, to consider the reality of death daily.”

“That’s because you already have your spiritual machinery in place, Father. Think about the many more who still don’t have this practice, and may only think about this reality when certain things begin to wane in their lives.”

“Surely, you’re not saying…,” I reacted.

“Let’s be more real, Father. In today’s world people eagerly set ‘deadlines’ of all sorts: work, leisure, vacation, projects, etc.”

“But that would be outright morbid!”

“Wait, I haven’t yet finished my entire proposal, Father.”

“I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to…,” I said.

“It’s perfectly alright, Father,” he took another sip of his shake.

“Now, setting a dead line could be anywhere between today and tomorrow, or some weeks to a month, or some months to some years.”

“But it would be quite impractical to impose on someone to change his lifestyle based on some theoretical existential dead line.”

“It won’t be theoretical, Father, if I may say so, because we’re going to set one that is realistic.”

“Realistic? Like how realistic?”

“It’s not like wanting to get one last chance at things one has never done before in life. I think it’s more like the testimony of some saints who were asked what they would do if they had known that they didn’t have much time to live…,” he shared.

“Like which saints?”

“Well, for one I admire St. Francis of Assisi’s whim to have a go for some of his almond tarts before he died!”

“Go on…,” I sliced my already cold cinnamon roll.

“And there’s St. Charles Borromeo. During a tense billiard game with some colleagues, the question was thrown – what each one would do if they knew that they had only one hour to live.”

“What did St. Charles say?”

“While the others said they would stop playing and immediately go to confession, say their last Mass or make final arrangements to settle debts, etc. St. Charles calmly and wittingly remarked that he would continue playing billiards.”

“So you’re saying that….”

“Look, Father. Here’s an even better example: our Lord had a deadline. He knew precisely when and how it was going to be. He lived His life oriented towards that day when He would offer His life for us on the Cross. I think the best way to describe this is that our Lord streamlined His activities in a way that He lived only what was ordinarily necessary in view of His life mission. ”

“Wow, that’s a unique way of putting it…at least in the way you describe it now.”

“Imagine too, that He wasn’t paranoid about it, or unnaturally fearful about it even though He knew and in His humanity feared His Passion.”

“But we’re not God, and therefore we can’t do exactly the same thing.”

“Precisely, but there’s no harm in setting a deadline that we could live for. Even if we reach that day alive, it would have been a spiritually healthy and fruitful moment.”

“How is that different from the daily consideration of one’s death?”

“Perhaps, it only extend the consideration and when we reach the determined day, we can foster more gratitude and optimism.”

“Then afterwards…?” I took another piece of the cinnamon.

“I guess, to set another deadline, ‘til we reach the real one.”