Turning 90

Here’s another excerpt from Conrad L. Kanagy’s biography entitled Walter Brueggemann’s Prophetic Imagination: A Theological Biography.

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When Walter turned eighty-nine in March 2022, he acknowledged that he thinks of his ending. He is content to leave that ending in God’s hands, and again imagines the end of life through the text:

Mostly I think of “fullness of days,” a phrase used to characterize Job’s ending (Job 42:17). This phrase does not specify age or longevity, but refers to the quality or content of one’s life. . . . I have been remarkably blessed, and I have so much for which to give great thanks. . . . But then, in an instant of sober honesty and realism, we may come to see, from time to time, how flimsy and unimportant are our measurements. We may notice that our arithmetic amounts to very little of significance in the face of our long-term life with God. Such sober reality tends to come upon us in our moments of vulnerability and helplessness when we notice that our “big numbers” of productivity, wealth, intelligence, or power are of no use to us. We might even withdraw from the rat race of measurement for an alternative life. When we withdraw from the rat race we may stop our intense passion for our big numbers . . . . But when we stop these eager calculations, we may fall, as the prophet intends, into the practice of steadfast love, justice, and righteousness. But of course, our usual arithmetic does not work in these categories. We have to take up a different set of calculations. This may be exactly what Jesus had in mind when he listed the elements for entry into a different future:

“I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” (Matthew 25:35–36)

Thus as I pursue my ninetieth year, on my best days I imagine that my longevity is of little import. Much more crucial is the “fullness of days.” The Torah, and Jesus after the Torah, has in mind exactly “full of days” of neighborly covenantalism. It turns out that the God who is “our hope for years to come” is not a scorekeeper, but a neighborhood administrator who is quite uninterested in our best measurements.

*Adapted from “Divine Arithmetic” at ChurchAnew.