Birthday Meditation

Abraham Joshua Heschel gave me good fodder for meditation on my birthday when he wrote, “Prayer is our humble answer to the inconceivable surprise of living.” I once read an article about the intricacies involved in bringing a child into the world, from timing of ovulation and fertilization to hormone levels of the mother to the uncertainty of implantation of the egg in the uterus to chromosomal abnormalities that can lead to miscarriage. The cascade of events that must happen just so in order for a live birth to occur is truly miraculous. You and I are walking miracles, and birthdays are particularly good times to remember that and rejoice in the gift of life.

Although birthdays are rightly a time of celebration, they also provide cause to reflect on St. Benedict’s instruction in the prologue to his Rule: “Run while you have the light of life, that the darkness of death may not overtake you.” The average life span of women in the United States is now 78.6 years, and although I might well beat the average, the fact remains that I’m one year closer to the end of my life on earth. On my birthday, contemplating all the wonders I have yet to experience and all the wisdom I have yet to attain is a reminder not to get complacent about the life I have been given.

Ultimately, Dag Hammarskjold offers perhaps the best prayer to recite on one’s birthday: “For all that has been, thanks! For all that will be, yes!”