A Year of Days with the Book of Common Prayer

"Make us, we beseech thee, deeply sensible of the shortness and uncertainty of life."
Book of Common Prayer, Burial of the Dead.

"You can't tell we are Christians by the things that do or do not happen to us. Immunity from trouble is not what our treasure is. We get sick and die, we grow old alone, we fall victim to natural disasters, just the same as those who do not believe. You can't tell we are Christians by what happens to us. But we recognize the cross of Christ in the suffering that comes our way. It doesn't make it go away, and it doesn't make bad things good. They're still bad. Pain still hurts. But we follow one who also knew that pain hurts, follow him through his death - which is our death, too - into his life, which will be our life in every way. The ups and downs of this world do not sum up reality for us; there is treasure that we have."

A Year of Days with the Book of Common Prayer, by Bishop Edmond Lee Browning.