Are we living this Lent as if it were our last?

This item popped up on my Facebook feed this morning.

It’s from someone I don’t know personally, but who is connected with many deacons on my “FB friend” list. He’s Deacon Lee Hunt, from Muskegon, Michigan, now serving in Edmond, Oklahoma. He posted this on his timeline three days ago:

Today we met with oncologist Dr. Amor who went over all results. I have inoperative, stage-4, pancreatic cancer with a survival rate of 1 week to 4 months. I will begin chemo Wednesday for palliative reasons and not to destroy the cancer that has already spread to my liver. We will use Hospice when the time in right. More prayers, please for me and my family.

I found the picture above on his Facebook page, from the summer of 2013.  You’d be hard-pressed to find a picture of him not grinning. This is clearly a man full of love and joy, blessed with a servant’s heart.

Please pray for him. Pray for those who love him.

Amid the various inanities and follies and foolishness that collectively clutter our lives, perhaps this swift and sober reminder can call us back to remembering the real purpose of Lent. I know it struck a chord with me.

We are dust. Time is fleeting.

Are we using every opportunity, every talent, every gift?

Are we rending our hearts, to better serve one another and the Lord?

Are we living this Lent as if it were our last?