About a month ago, I traveled to Santa Rosa, California, to surprise one of my sisters on the occasion of her (gasp) seventieth birthday.  Although her husband and my other sister, who also lives in Santa Rosa, were aware that I'd be showing up, Ellen did not.

    The look on her face was priceless!  She was totally taken aback to see me strolling into her house.  As the evening spun itself out, I looked at Ellen often:  she was so thankful to be celebrating this moment with her family and friends.  She glowed with gratitude.

    Of course most of us want to live as long as we possibly can, even if we are acutely aware that we will not.  It's one of the complexities of being a human being.  So how to measure the value of our brief time on this planet?  A recent review of Ross Douthat's Believe:  Why Everyone Should Be Religious captures this dilemma well.  Although the reviewer, whose religious sensibilities clearly do not align with those of Douthat (who is a person of faith), observes that value is still possible in a world without religion, it is at the same time a condition without any significance.  In an accidental world, he writes, there is no justification to claim that any value is real.

    I agree.  Be grateful for your life, be happy for your years.  Yet remain painfully aware that if there is no reason for either one, you're just shouting into the dark.