Time is short

For more commentary on this week's readings, see the Reflections on the Lectionary page, which includes Weems's current Living by the Word column as well as past magazine and blog content. For full-text access to all articles, subscribe to the Century.

In a recent interview, Diane Keaton told the story of when she first decided to adopt a child. She was driving her father home from the hospital to die. Having been diagnosed with a terminal illness and having completed the last possible treatments available to him, he was heading home to spend his last days--and she was the one behind the steering wheel.

Keaton said she was at a loss for words on that car ride home. Yet her father chose to speak. He wished he had spent less of his life working and spent more time with her. He wished he had traveled more. He wished he had taken more risks.