ARE YOU JUST COMING FOR A VISIT?

Mary Oliver in her poem “When Death Comes” ends the poem with the following:
When it’s over, I don’t want to wonder
If I have made of my life something particular and real.
I don’t want to find myself sighing and frightened, or full of argument.
I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world.
That is such a marvelous prelude to and examination of conscience. Worlds like “but,” “if only,” “When I finish this” and “I meant to” will probably not mean much to St. Peter on that last day.
God is not asking us to visit this world, to come and not unpack our bags, to come only to take pictures to remember it by. This world is not meant to be an amusement park where you come to enjoy but not be part of. The world that we live in is not The Garden of Eden. We do however live in a world that is a garden, a garden that God wants us to cultivate. He expects life to be an effort and to take work. He does not want you to say of his creation: It was a great place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there.

The poem has the phrase “made of my life something.” I find that most interesting. Life goes from birth to death. You can just follow it along, let it control you or you can “make something” of it. God gives us this gift of life, but as our response to his love, we have to make something of it. You make something of your life by making a first effort, getting use to that step and doing the next thing and continuing on this process throughout your whole life. You don’t make something of life all at one. You work at it and build you own special life.
One can look at the time of birth as the laying of the cornerstone of your life. Once the corner stone is laid, you have to begin the building process. This takes your whole life.
But it will be great when it is finished.