December 31, death rehearsal.

You sweep them away as with a flood.

They are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning.

In the morning it flourishes and is renewed.

In the evening it fades and withers.

So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.

Psalm 95 and 6 and 12.

For me, the end of a year is like the end of my life.

And 1159 pm on December 31 is like the moment of my death.

The 365 days of the year are like a miniature lifetime and these final hours are like

the last days in the hospital after the doctor has told me that the end is very near.

And in these last hours, the lifetime of this year passes before my eyes and I face the

inevitable question, did I live it well?

Will Jesus Christ the righteous judge say, well done, good and faithful servant?

I feel very fortunate that this is the way my year ends.

And I pray that the years end might have the same significance for you.

The reason I feel fortunate is that it is a great advantage to have a trial run at my

own dying.

It is a great benefit to rehearse once a year in preparation for the last scene of your life.

It is a great benefit because the morning of January 1 will find most of us still alive

on the brink of a whole new lifetime able to start fresh all over again.

The great thing about rehearsals is that they show you where your weaknesses are, where

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