Time flies

Oh my gosh is it really Thursday already?

I was at a wedding recently and saw many people I hadn't seen in years and after hearing that I now have two kids and have been married almost 4.5 years, their jaws drop and they all say the same thing, "Wow, how time flies!"

It's true! I'm not mocking them. I say it all the time, no pun intended.

Last week alone both my mother and my mother in law both made jokes about how they're getting "old" and it's so sad! I took this as a sign to hear the messages and perhaps find a big life lesson in it all.

So I began to question myself. Is that it? Can that really be it? When we're young we enjoy ourselves and when we get "old" it just becomes this depressing downwards spiral into a useless existence of rocking chairs and tales of "back in the day?"

Not even close.

This is exactly what Shabbat comes to teach us.
A parallel:

After 6 days of working, the sun sets on Friday night and that means that we can no longer do any acts of creation (ie. cooking, some cleaning, bathing, driving, etc.). We work hard to prepare all week for the day of Shabbat, we shop for food, we cook, bathe, clean our clothes, polish the silver. We get ready to sit and feast like Kings and Queens. Whatever we prepared during the week is the only thing we will have to eat on Shabbat because once the sun sets, we can no longer continue to cook. On a deeper level we are told that God Himself is our guest on Shabbat! What a tremendous honor for us to "host" Godliness in our homes, which really means to connect with the reality of what we're living for and focus on the things that matter.

After 120 years of living in this world (6 days of the week), the sun will one day "set" (Friday night) and we too will die. We must work hard to prepare all our lives (6 days of the week) for that special day (Shabbat) when we leave this world and go on to the World to Come. We prepare our (clothing) spiritual garments, ie. perfecting our character traits, and we get ready to sit and feast in the glory of all our hard work! Whatever we prepared during (the week) our lives, is the only thing we will have to (eat) show for what we made of ourselves here. This is truly our sustenance. Once the sun sets (Shabbat starts) we can no longer continue to (cook/prepare) work on ourselves or prepare anything because our time will be up. On a deeper level we will be God's guests!

The week passes us by so fast. I often catch myself asking "What do I have to show for this week?" I'm not asking what did I buy, or how much money did I make. What I'm asking is "Did I work on myself? Did I "toil" and labor at working on being patient, giving, caring? That's all I will have to show when I'm gone. So each week we are truly blessed to have this reminder that although the week did "fly by" you have a chance, 25 hours, to sit and contemplate about what was last week and what will be this coming week. We have the opportunity to sit and reflect so that each week that passes by is not a week that goes with nothing to show for it.

Shabbat is our reminder that one day, the sun will set for us too, and we need to prepare.