All of us have read thrilling stories in which the hero had
only a limited and specified time to live. Sometimes it was as long
as a year; sometimes as short as twenty-four hours. But always we
were interested in discovering just how the doomed man chose to
spend his last days or his last hours. I speak, of course, of free
men who have a choice, not condemned criminals whose sphere of
activities is strictly delimited.
Such stories set us thinking, wondering what we
should do under similar circumstances. What events, what
experiences, what associations should we crowd into those last
hours as mortal beings? What happiness should we find in reviewing
the past, what regrets?
Sometimes I have thought it would be an
excellent rule to live each day as if we should die tomorrow. Such
an attitude would emphasize sharply the values of life. We should
live each day with a gentleness, a vigor, and a keenness of
appreciation which are often lost when time stretches before us in
the constant panorama of more days and months and years to come.
There are those, of course, who would adopt the Epicurean motto of
"Eat, drink, and be merry," but most people would be chastened by
the certainty of impending death.
In stories the doomed hero is usually saved at
the last minute by some stroke of fortune, but almost always his
sense of values is changed. he becomes more appreciative of the
meaning of life and its permanent spiritual values. It ahs often
been noted that those who live, or have lived, in the shadow of
death bring a mellow sweetness to everything they do.