It is curious the way we see our lives, living like the days are without end. One image is perhaps thinking of them as sand on a beach. On second glance we realize it is not life but rather time.

When I was 12, I had a lot of friends who discovered the "magic" of booze. Some of those friends by the time they were in grade 9 craved a greater "high" and switched over to drugs. Acid was often the drug of choice.

One dark night, I heard the sirens blaring and stopped just outside our apartment. There lying on the road was one of these girls. She was baby-sitting, high on something; she was running across the street for some cigarettes. Tragically, my friend did not see the delivery truck that was racing down the road. She stepped right in front of it and it was the last thing she ever did.

I had known this girl since I had started school. It never crossed our minds that life was not like sand on the beach.

I was thinking the other day how life is more like a huge table set with many cups of tea. Each cup is like a day and you only get one cup at a time. You also discover you never drink the same cup twice.

The day comes however, when we have drank all the cups that were set out for us by the One who determines our days.

May we drink wisely and well today. May the cup, even though at times is bitter, be regarded as the precious gift it is.