The Nodes of Life Part 6
May 21, 2025
The Nodes of Life Part 6
From childhood, I recall the Christmas story in the Bible as it was read in church, school, and home. It was usually read from the King James Version, and a line stood out to me. It was the passage in Luke 2:6 about Mary’s giving birth to Jesus— the words that caught my attention were, “And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.”
As a child, I had no idea that days could be accomplished. You could accomplish making good grades, winning a foot race, drawing a great picture, or building something amazing. “But how did Mary accomplish ‘days’?” I thought to my eight-year-old self.
King James’ English used the word “accomplished” very differently than we currently use it, but the old usage makes sense to me now. Let me explain— the beginning of each day of our lives is like a blank piece of paper. We can fill a page with writing or drawing. Lots of filled pages make a chapter or book. We can compare a piece of paper with a day of our lives. For example, if we fill one day with purposeful thoughts and activity, we have accomplished a day toward our life’s purpose. Each day that is lived for a purpose is a day that is accomplished toward that end. Many days filled with meaning make a chapter of our lives, and all the days we have lived so far compose our autobiography up until now. So, days actually can be accomplished (if they have a purpose).
So how we live each day is very important. And no two days are alike.
On April 20, 1913, at Yale University, Sir William Osler made a speech to students entitled, “A Way of Life.” In the talk, which later became a book, he advised students to live in “day-tight compartments.” Osler had recently traveled across the Atlantic on a new ship with watertight seals between its rooms. The compartments had their fail-safe walls, and if one was punctured during an accident, the one next to it didn’t take on water. He said that each of our days can be viewed as day-tight compartments; each day is sufficient unto itself.
Each day has its own set of accomplishments, fulfillments, challenges, and benchmarks that together make our lives. Osler’s concept allows us to understand our days as “stand-alone” compartments in which we focus on that day without being affected by the past or the future. His analogy represents a concentration style in which we can “accomplish” the day. The same reasoning goes for living from one now to the next.
When we return our thoughts to Mary, I can understand that the days accomplished were the number of days until the delivery date and the culmination of day after day of her fulfilling her holy purpose.
So now I know how days can be “accomplished.”
Spiritual practice: Consider how you conceptualize your day. Is it a blank slate on which you can do what you will, or does each day have a pre-determined agenda?
Self-inquiry: Have you ever experienced a day lost because the past, future, or both punctured it?
Dear God,
I pray my days are filled with meaning so my life will be. Amen
