Remember Your Death and Live Well

“By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” (Genesis 3:19 NIV)

In Ephesians, Paul writes, “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins. . . But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus”(vv. 1, 4-6 NIV).

We are dead in our sin when we don’t know Christ, but the gospel gives us eternal life. Without the salvation promised us through Jesus, we are no more than dust.

In the Old Testament, people marked themselves with ashes to show they were mourning or repenting (see Job 42:6 for an example).

On Ash Wednesday, we can choose to be marked with ashes as a sign of recognition of our mortality, engaging in memento mori, Latin for “Remember your death.” This practice takes place on the first day of Lent, the somber forty days leading up to the Easter celebration of Christ’s victory over earthly death and, therefore, our victory over eternal death.

Sister Theresa Aletheia Noble writes in Remember Your Death: Memento Mori Lenten Devotional,

“Humans are but mortals, mere creatures. God is not some being in the universe that comes into existence, but Existence itself. Every person has life only because God is life. Ash Wednesday is a reminder that humanity needs a Savior because we are but dust and ashes. We need a Savior because the only person who could save us from death is the one who gave us life in the first place. Jesus Christ, who was Life itself, is our last and our only hope.”

Why should we remember that we will die? So that we don’t forget to live–and live well.

The cross of ash on our foreheads is more than a reminder that, sooner or later, we will leave this earthly life behind. It is a reminder that we are charged with using the time we do have to do as Jesus commanded to the best of our abilities: love God, love others. It is a reminder that we owe our opportunity for eternal life to the Son of God who died on a cross.

In the Midwest, where I live, Lent tends to be a chilly, still-dark season. The cold and damp of late winter and early spring seeps into our bones. There is little sign of new life emerging from the earth as yet. There is time to contemplate the cycle of birth and death and rebirth before the earth bursts forth in springtime glory and we turn our faces to the sun’s warmth. I like this. It feels fitting.

If you have ever had a close brush with death, it may be easier to wrap your mind around the idea of memento mori. Personally, I’ve had terrible car accidents, cancer scares, and intrusive thoughts about death. I lost a brother the day after he turned eighteen, a great shock and seemingly far too soon, so the knowledge that time is short and that cannot know when we will meet Jesus face-to-face is easier to grasp.

Later this week, you’ll read about the three pillars of Lent–prayer, fasting, and almsgiving–from two of our other contributors. But today, I want to pose this question to you, Lenten practices aside:

What can you do to remember your death and live well?

What can you do each day to treasure the fleeting gift of earthly life, the beauty and wonder of creation, the great love of God, the gift of salvation? How can you love God and love others as he commanded? How can you worship him in spirit and in truth?

We aren’t likely to sport a cross of ashes the other 364 days of the year, so what steps can we take to remind ourselves to honor the cross with our finite moments? Sister Theresa Aletheia Noble keeps a skull on her desk as a reminder. You might not want to go that route–it seems rather gruesome–but are there another reminder you can put in place? A practice of daily examen? An icon? A simple piece of jewelry that you wear?

Such objects and practices might seem rather simple or trivial, but just as a Fitbit buzzes to remind you to get up and move, the way a wedding ring reminds you of your commitment to your spouse, the way a photograph on your desk reminds you of a loved one, a memento of Christ’s sacrifice can remind us to live with and for him.

Remember your death and live well.

Harmony Harkema has loved the written word for as long as she can remember. A former English teacher turned editor, she has spent the past twelve years in the publishing industry. A writer herself in the fringe hours of her working-and-homeschooling mom life, Harmony has a heart for leading and coaching aspiring writers. She is the owner of The Glorious Table and cohost and producer at The Relatable Homeschoolers podcast. Harmony lives in Michigan with her husband and two daughters. You can find her at HarmonyHarkema.com and on Instagram @harmonyharkema.

Photograph © Annika Gordon, used with permission