https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13330347/Max-Azzarello-dead-fire-Trump-trial-NYC.html

Max Azzarello DIES just hours after setting himself on fire while protesting outside Trump's hush money trial in NYC as friends reveal the heartbreaking moment that triggered his spiral into self-destruction

    Protester Max Azzarello has died after setting himself ablaze in Manhattan Friday
    The 37-year-old doused himself in accelerant before igniting himself with a light
    Flames engulfed the conspiracy theorist, who has now succumbed to his injuries

By Alex Hammer For Dailymail.Com

Published: 04:51, 20 April 2024 | Updated: 07:46, 20 April 2024

The man who set himself on fire outside Trump's hush money trial in New York has died from his injuries, as his friends and neighbors said it was the death of his mother two years ago that made him increasingly unstable.  Max Azzarello, a 37-year-old from St. Augustine, Florida, died Friday night hours after the shocking display, said to be 'an 'extreme act of protest [against] a totalitarian con, and our own government' on his own Substack.  The Florida native was a graduate from Rutgers University, where he received a master’s degree in city and regional planning in 2012, friends said.  He was rushed to a nearby hospital’s burn unit where died just before 11 pm, sources familiar with the matter added Friday night hours after was seen throwing a stack of pamphlets that included a link to his conspiracy-laden Substack seconds before igniting.  In interviews carried out within that span, several who knew Azzarello described a different sort of man from the one responsible for a slew of rambling, paranoid posts plastered throughout his social media.  'He was super curious about social justice and the way things "could" be,' fellow Rutgers alum Katie Brennan told the New York Times Friday of the self-professed 'investigative researcher.  He was creative and adventurous.'

An friend from high school, Steven Waldman, remembered Azzarello who had a job in marketing, sales, and tech before becoming unemployed at some point in 2021 or 2022 as one of the smartest people he knew.  'He was a good friend and person and cared about the world,' he told the publication.

Both talked up the confirmed conspiracy theorist has decidedly normal, as did his neighbors in historic St. Augustine, where he lived in a small apartment near the Matanzas River.  '[He was] an extremely nice person,' recalled the property manager of his apartment building, Larry Altman.  He went on to add: 'He had political views that I would not consider mainstream.  He called our government and the world government a Ponzi scheme,' Altman remembered, before disclaiming those views were hardly a cause for concern.

'If you met Max, he’d shake your hand, and you’d have a nice conversation,' he told The Times. 'He’d treat you with respect.'

His oldest friends were left even more surprised by his sudden act, with Carol Waldman, the mom of his childhood friend, recalling: 'He was kind and a gentle soul.  A real wonderful, terrific young guy. Who had his whole life ahead of him.'

But things quickly changed after the death of his mother, Elizabeth Azzarello, on April 6, 2022 almost two years to the day before his self-immolation.  After the loss spurred by a bout with pulmonary disease  his friends in St Augustine said they saw a change, one that culminated with Azzarello secretly traveling to New York City at some point this year, without his family's knowledge.  'That was around the time when he became more outspoken,' Waldman said of this period, referring to the last eight or so months of 2022.  They were close, and they had a good relationship. He was heartbroken.' he recalled.

By the next year, Azzarello and his writings after penning a beautifully worded memorial following his mother's death were almost unrecognizable.  'This extreme act of protest is to draw attention to an urgent and important discovery,' Azzarello wrote in part of his online manifesto, titled The Ponzi Papers.  We are victims of a totalitarian con, and our own government (along with many of their allies) is about to hit us with an apocalyptic fascist world coup.'

He added how this supposed regime 'is about to hit us with an apocalyptic facist world coup,' just months after a series of arrests in his home state for incidents that took place in August, including hurling a drink at a photo of Bill Clinton.

Oddly, the alleged research investigator is seen smiling in an undated photo with the Democrat seen on his still-up LinkedIn, where he wrote, 'we have a secret facist problem.'

In March 2023, he changed his profession on LinkedIn as 'Research Investigator,' self-employed, and in June reportedly tagged Brennan and others to make sure they had seen something he had written.  Speaking to The Times, she framed it as a 'manifesto', and remembered how she called him to intervene.  When that didn't work, she said she wrote to one of his relatives to make sure they were aware he was not in the right state of mind just over a year before he woudl set himself on fire as Trump's criminal trial entered its fourth day.  Eight months before this, though, Azzarello posted to Facebook to tell his online friends he had visited a mental health treatment facility, writing, 'Three days in the psych ward, and all I got were my new favorite socks.'

He was also spotted outside the courthouse both Thursday and Friday, where he reportedly told The New York Times, 'Trump's in on it.'

Trump is facing allegations he falsified business records related to payments made to ex-porn star Stormy Daniels.  Again framing himself as a 'research investigator', Azzarello told the paper his beliefs were influenced by research he had carried out into Peter Thiel, the venture capitalist whose seed money helped start firms like PayPal and Facebook.  Photographed holding a sign that read 'Trump is with Biden and they're about to facist coup us', he said: 'It's a secret kleptocracy, and it can only lead to an apocalyptic fascist coup.'

The day before, he reportedly held a sign critical of New York University before heading to the courthouse, while handing out literature on the subject.  On Friday, the self-employed 'investigative researcher' suddenly tossed a stack of pamphlets into the air that included links to his manifesto, seconds before suddenly setting himself ablaze.  After the self-immolation, cops descended on the area just before 2pm, after which he was brought to a nearby hospital’s burn unit. He died shortly before 11 pm, sources familiar with the matter confirmed.  In an article authored hours before he spewed unfounded theories about the 'elites', COVID, and Clinton, who appeared to have become a source of fascination for Azzarello over the years.  The post bore the startling succinct headline: 'I have set myself on fire outside of the Trump Trial', as other social media posts provided more insight into the college graduate's fragile state of mind.

DailyMail.com gained more insight after learning the activist just week ago completed a six month probation sentence - handed out following a string of incidents in Florida involving either disorderly conduct, destruction of property, and overall erratic, 'rambling' behavior.  DailyMail.com obtained criminal complaints for each, which all place within a matter of days in August.  In the first of three, cops wrote how Azzarello threw a glass of wine at a framed and autographed photograph of President Clinton displayed in the lobby of the Casa Monica Hotel in his hometown of Saint Augustine the evening of August 19, 2023,  The complaint, which lists him as unemployed, notes the incident took place as Azzarello had just finished dinner at the hotel restaurant.  He went on to launch the glass at the image, breaking the glass on the framed photograph and damaging it with wine in the process.  Then, two days later, Azzarello was arrested again at the Case Monica, after he was reported for 'standing outside, stripping his clothes off and yelling at customers.'  When cops arrived, they noted how the suspect was 'wearing nothing but his underwear, standing on the sidewalk [, and] holing [sic] a speaker blasting music and yelling', officers wrote eight months ago.  The hotel manager, meanwhile, was said to have told officers that customers were 'scared for their safety', and that many were unable to enter or exit for fear of being caught up in the then-suspect's episode.  On August 24, he was arrested once more for graffitiing property and rifling through a woman's belongings in the flatbed of her truck, after allegedly being seen yelling in someone's yards after 'misinterpreting' an exterminator's sign warning people to keep their children and pets off a lawn that had just been treated.  Cops, at the time, wrote how the conspiracy theorist was convinced the pest control company was 'there to exterminate children and dogs', as all the events occurred within walking distance of Azzarello's apartment.  In a discovery that provided more insight into the man behind the incident, DailyMail.com found Azzarello had posted to Facebook earlier that month, this time to tell his friends that he had just spent three days in a psych ward.  'I was handcuffed, shoved, and put into a psych ward,' he wrote in the update, in which he described how cops suddenly showed up at his St Augustine pad necause he had tipped a Starbucks barista $200 and wrote 'Go F*** Yourself' on the receipt.

'I was given no information about why I was there until after my discharge,' he said, as another post a few weeks later indicated her served jail time for the alleged stunt.

Less than three months later, a suit he filed against Clinton and 100 other influential figures was tossed when he failed to follow up with required court filings, after claiming Mark Cuban, Richard Branson, the country of Saudi Arabia, and more were carrying 'an elaborate network of Ponzi schemes' dating back to the 1990s and continuing through 2023.  Other defendants named in the 2023 suit included 1992 Independent presidential candidate Ross Perot, who died in 2019.  The case filed by Azzarello without a lawyer was tossed this past October.  Then, in an Instagram story posted a little over nine weeks ago, Azzarello shared a picture of Taylor Swift donned in Super Woman apparel.  He wrote in the caption: 'Super Bowl LVII Forecast: 100% chance of broflakes melting down and whining across the nation.' 

Azzarello wrote: 'Why are we all so divided? Because the people who stole the American Dream are shouting 'You're divided! You're divided!' in all directions.'

In another post from this time period, Azzarello appeared to show support for the Eras performer, commenting on a photo of her flashing the peace sign while delivering a commencement speech at New York University.  'Still her best picture,' Azzarello wrote over the May 2022 image, held in front of the same school would go on to slam two months later days before setting himself ablaze.

'NYU is a mob front', the headline of literature being passed around by the activist in Lower Manhattan not far from the courthouse Wednesday read.  An accompanying tagline added that the pamphlet was 'a brief guide to[the school's] most criminal secrets.'  Reporters with the Times, meanwhile, confirmed the suspect was holding a sign on Wednesday critical of the school at Washington Square Park Wednesday, before moving on Thursday to the park where the incident occurred.  A link to his Ponzi Papers Substack was provided.  On Wednesday, he also posted an Instagram highlight saying he would be 'spending the week at Washington Square Park airing out all of NYU's dirty laundry', a day before a final Instagram story just minutes before the blaze.  'I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you,' it read.

At 1:37 pm, law enforcement responded to calls reporting the fire, before rushing Azzarello to a city hospital where he is said to be in critical condition.  The New York Police Department said an investigation is ongoing, as other recent social media posts show how Azzarello recently praised 'martyrs' like the former U.S. military member who also lit himself on fire, but died during protest.  'Heroes and martyrs, folks,' Azzarello posted on his Instagram after the February death of US Air Force Active Duty Member Aaron Bushnell, adding 'God f****** bless you, Aaron Bushnell.'

Bushnell, 25, died after self immolating outside the Israeli Embassy this past February in Washington, D.C., in protest of Israel's war in Gaza.  'My name is Aaron Bushnell, I am an active-duty member of the United States Air Force and I will no longer be complicit in genocide,' Bushnell is heard saying in video of the incident.  '

'I am about to engage in an extreme act of protest, but compared to what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers, it's not extreme at all.  This is what our ruling class has decided will be normal.'

Like Bushnell, Azzarello released his own manifesto before his act on Friday.  However, unlike the late servicemen, his motives appear a bit more muddied with most of his pages attacking facism and the supposed complacency of the general public.  In his Substack, he again states he is an 'investigative researcher'.  The rest of the profile amounts to a rambling diatribe ageist the establishment, which Azzarello appears to be the authors of 'totalitarian con'.  He also warns of a 'an apocalyptic fascist world coup', and in fliers posted to his social media, he flaunts other self made pamphlets centered around the 'dipshit secrets of our rotten world'.  'When the economy collapses and it feels like World War III overnight, you'll know exactly why,' Azzarello warns in the flier.  His profile claims he has been self-employed since March of 2023. In one post, he claimed to have served 40 days in jail for one of the incidents back in August.  The NYPD investigation into the incident, as of writing, remains ongoing.

SIGNS YOU OVERDID IT FOR THANKSGIVING

> Paramedics bring in the Jaws of Life to pry you out of the EZ-Boy.

> The Gravy Boat you used was a real 12 foot boat.

> You get grass stains on your behind after a walk, but never sat down.

> You set off three earthquake seismographs on your morning jog Friday.

> Pricking your finger for cholesterol screening yields only gravy.

> You had five TV sets side-by-side to catch all the football games.

> That rash on your stomach turns out to be steering wheel burn.

> Representatives from the Butterball Hall of Fame called twice.

> It looks like the leftovers are gonna last until Christmas.

> Your arms are too short to reach the keyboard & delete this.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13306641/Schoolboy-eight-killed-hit-car-horror-accident-quiet-Wiltshire-cul-sac.html

Schoolboy, eight, killed after being hit by a car in horror accident on quiet Wiltshire cul-de-sac

By Eirian Jane Prosser

Published: 10:41, 14 April 2024 | Updated: 11:39, 14 April 2024

An eight-year-old schoolboy has died after being struck by a car on a quiet Wiltshire cul-de-sac.  Emergency services were called out to the crash in Woodland View, Dilton Marsh at 4.30pm on Saturday.  The incident, which saw the quiet road in the rural village closed last night, involved a vehicle and the young boy who had been walking in the area.   The tragic scene saw Wiltshire Air Ambulance scramble to the road alongside other 999 responders but despite their best efforts, he was pronounced dead at the scene.   The little boy's family have been informed and is being supported by a specialist officers.  A man in his 30s is being interviewed, the police said, as 'is usual in these circumstances'.  Tributes have flooded social media this morning, with many paying their respects tot the boys family.  One wrote: 'What an sad news fly high little sending hug and love to his family and friends at this sad occasion.'

Another said: 'This is so very very sad. Sending my thoughts to his family at this most unimaginably awful time.'

'Rest in paradise beautiful boy, thoughts are with the family,' a third added, while a fourth wrote: 'My condolences to the family, this is so tragic to read.'

The devastating collision happened in Dilton Marsh on the warmest day of the year so far.  The quiet village has a local pub, called The Prince of Wales, a pre-school and a primary school as well as a parent and toddler group.  Woodland View is a small cul-de-sac with a few new build houses backing onto a large field. It is a close walk from both the primary and prep school.  'Our thoughts are with them at this extremely difficult time', a Wiltshire Police spokesperson said.

'A man in his 30s is being interviewed, as is usual in these circumstances,' they added.

Witnesses to the collision or anyone with dash cam footage are being urged to contact the serious collision investigation team on 01225 694597 quoting log number 218 of yesterday's date (13/04).

Witnesses can also contact the team directly by emailing SCIT@wiltshire.police.uk.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13298793/Mother-student-died-inhaling-hippy-crack-nitrous-oxide-class-drug.html

'My 24-year-old daughter died inhaling three bottles of hippy crack a day. If she knew the risk she'd still be alive': Mother calls for nitrous oxide to be a class A drug as she reveals she checks her messages every day 'to hear her daughter's voice'

    Sharon Cook's daughter Ellen Mercer, 24, died on February 9 last year
    Ms Mercer was rushed to hospital after losing feeling in her legs

By Eirian Jane Prosser

Published: 07:55, 12 April 2024 | Updated: 08:15, 12 April 2024

The heartbroken mother of a young woman who died after inhaling up to three large bottles of nitrous oxide has called for the 'hippy crack' to be made a Class A drug.  Ellen Mercer, 24, from Gerrards Cross in Buckinghamshire, died in hospital on February 9 last year after being rushed to hospital when she lost feeling in her legs.  On Tuesday an inquest into the death of the business student, who had bipolar disorder, found that nitrous oxide, also known as laughing gas, in part caused her death.  Sharon Cook, 54, is calling for the government to crack down on the party drug, exclusively telling MailOnline that her daughter would still be alive today if she had been aware of its harmful effects.  Ms Cook also said she still checks her messages every day, 'thinking there will be a message from her daughter on WhatsApp or Messenger,' adding: 'I can still hear her voice.'

Ms Cook added: 'I don't think she realised how dangerous the drug was. As it was legal she was inclined to think it was safe.  I don't think she realised just how harmful it is and if she had realised she wouldn't have taken it.  I read somewhere that there had been 56 deaths in the last few years and they weren't very well publicised, I had no idea and hadn't heard about it.  Obviously it's heartbreaking. [The government] needs to come down harder on it and they should definitely make it a Class A drug. It is dangerous so it should be up there with heroin and cocaine. Class C is not strong enough in my book.'

Nitrous oxide, sometimes referred to as NOS, was made illegal last year with the Government making it a Class C drug. Users can face a community order or an unlimited fine, with repeat offenders potentially serving up two years in prison.  The drug can be used in medical settings but those caught supplying it for unlawful reasons could face 14 years behind bars.  Ms Mercer's post-mortem found she had died of bilateral pulmonary thromboembolism, deep vein thrombosis, and 'long-term complications of nitrous oxide use'. 

'Large blood clots' had formed in the young woman's legs before moving to the arteries in her lungs which caused a 'sudden cardiorespiratory collapse'.  In the months before her death Ms Mercer had required urgent medical care several times, including just days before on February 5 when she called the ambulance service saying she was 'unable to get up' and felt 'pain in both legs and lower back.'  The student had initially told her boyfriend not to call an ambulance as she did 'not want to lose the buzz', it was reported.  Ms Cook was unaware her daughter had been taking the drug but recalled the last time she spoke to her, Ms Mercer had complained about losing the feeling in her legs.  She told MailOnline: 'I had no idea at all [that Ellen was taking the drug]. I spoke to her a few days before she died when she said she could not walk.  And I said go to the hospital, you must go to the hospital and then I didn't speak to her after that. That was the last time I spoke to her.  She did go to the hospital after that the following day and she called 999 but obviously it was too late.  I just wish she had gone sooner. If she had gone two weeks prior when she first lost the feeling in her legs she would probably still be with us now, so that is hard to think she didn't have to die.'

The grieving mother, however, does not just place the blame of her daughter's death on the Government's laws on the drug.BBMs Cook blames the failures within the mental health services, who had discharged and failed to check up on her daughter despite warnings from her mother.  She believes Ellen had been using the drug which cause people to feel relaxed, light headed or dizzy as a form of coping mechanism after not getting the correct support from the health service.  'I think had her mental health been more stable she would not have gone down this path with nitrous oxide. If she was in her right mind she would not have done it. So I think she was really failed by the mental health services, completely failed,' she said.

'She had bipolar and she got discharged from the mental health services before becoming ill again,' she added.

'They didn't follow her up and I rang them and asked them to go see her and they just ignored it. They didn't go see her. But she was struggling with her mental health.'

Upon her discharge from the mental health facility in April 2022, Ms Mercer was supposed to be given a higher dose lamotrigine to help treat her bipolar, however, her mother said this was never followed through.  After Ms Mercer's death, her mother said she received a letter from the NHS trust 'admitting they had failed and should have done more' to help her daughter.  Ms Cook said her daughter's mental health had declined after the death of her father when she was 19-years-old.  'She never really got over it. It hit her really hard and her grandmother had died just eight days before, so we had a double funeral. It was a really tough time,' she added.

Ms Mercer's brother, Joe, 27, also said mental health issues had also played a role in the death of his deeply 'kind and deeply caring sister'.  He told MailOnline: 'At her core, she was a very bubbly, energetic person. She was incredibly positive. Whilst drugs were involved in the situation.  I think really what we are looking at here is a mental health case that didn't receive as much attention as it should have.  People with bipolar have addictive personalities and drugs are addictive substances the two will go hand in hand.'

Paying tribute to his younger sister, Mr Mercer added: 'She was incredibly energetic, a million miles an hour on anything she was passionate about. She was kind, caring and deeply thoughtful for people.  She kind of filtered between a lot of different interests but the primary focus of a lot of them was art, in any form.  Whether that was drama or singing or writing or drawing, she tried her hand at all of them to varying degrees of success.'

Ms Mercer had been living away from her family home for almost three years when she died. She had moved in with her boyfriend in a rented flat in Woodford Green in Buckinghamshire.  She had done well at both GCSES and A Levels but had decided not to go to university because of her mental health.  Paying tribute to her daughter the day after the inquest concluded, Ms Cook said: 'She was funny, kind, caring. She was just a lovely girl. She was really into acting, singing and dancing when she was younger.  She was really outgoing, a real extrovert. A pleasure to have around. Always 100 miles an hour but funny with it.

What are the risks of nitrous oxide?

Nitrous oxide, has been nicknamed 'laughing gas' due to the euphoric and relaxed feeling people who inhale it can sometimes feel.  The substance also known as 'hippy crack' is normally bought in pressured canisters, commonly transferred to a container, e.g. a balloon, from which the gas is inhaled.  Although possession of laughing gas is not currently illegal, English law prohibits its sale to under-18s if there is a chance they will inhale it.

The effects of nitrous oxide:

• Feelings of euphoria, relaxation and calm.

• Dizziness, difficulty in thinking straight and fits of giggles/laughter.

• Sound distortions or even hallucinations.

• In some people, a headache can be an unwanted immediate effect.

Risks include:

• Unconsciousness or death from lack of oxygen. This occurs when the available oxygen for breathing is effectively pushed out by the nitrous oxide.

'You always knew she was in the room, you were well aware that she was around, you couldn't miss her. She really was so funny. One day she would just come rollypollying into the living room and she would just do these mad things.'

Ms Cook now lives with her son and her younger daughter Daisy, who was just 11-years-old when her older sister died.  'She misses her. It's been really hard on Daisy,' the mother, who used to work as a courier added.

The family are understandably still coming to terms with the sudden loss, but Ms Cook said they are coping as best they can.  'We are coping. It was obviously harder in the first few months,' she said. 'It has gotten easier as time has gone on but I still expect to hear from her.  I still check my messages and think there will be a message from her on WhatsApp or Messenger. I can still hear her voice.'

Medics who tried to save her found there were 'features of neurological compromise' with later tests finding that laughing gas had left her with serious circulation and breathing problems.   Michaela Kirtley, an emergency medical technician from Phoenix Response Services, a contractor that worked for South Central Ambulance Service, attended Ms Mercer's home on February 8.  When she arrived at the scene, she was shown to the bedroom by Ms Mercer's boyfriend.  'I took notice of the room,' she said. 'There were no sheets on the bed at all. There was just the duvet, severely stained. The room was bare.'

The scene the medic had witnessed made it clear to her that she was dealing with a 'vulnerable person'.  Ms Mercer was said to have been 'talking as normal' with the only vital sign outside its normal range was her heart rate, which could have been due to anxiety.  The young woman said she had burned her legs after spilling a gas canister on them and that she had been unable to walk or go to the toilet for two weeks, she said.  According to the emergency worker the 24-year-old looked six months pregnant and the wounds on her legs were described as being filled with pus.  Ms Mecer's boyfriend then led her to a box of gas canisters, which were identified as nitrous oxide.  'I had never seen such big bottles,' Ms Kirtley said.

She told the inquest that the canisters were 600g and that Ms Mercer's boyfriend said she took 'two to three bottles' per day, but had slowed down in the last couple of weeks.  Her boyfriend said she 'shouted at him' because she wanted to continue her high, when he was asked why he did not call an ambulance, according to the Sun.  At the opening of Ms Mercer's inquest in February, Berkshire coroner Hannah Godfrey said that the student 'had a history of nitrous oxide abuse'.

Between 2001 and 2020, 56 deaths in England and Wales had nitrous oxide mentioned on their death certificate.  Some deaths, however, included in medical settings so not all had been because of misuse.  In recent years, use of the drug has become an increasing problem, being one of the most abused substances with those aged 16-24.  Last summer, at Notting Hill Carnival it was reported that there were 13 tonnes of canisters containing the drug collected after the festival.  Inhaling the gas brings about short-term feelings of lightheadedness, fits of giggles and hallucinations.  Heavy, regular abuse, however, risks significant health risks including anaemia and in more severe cases, nerve damage or paralysis.  It has been identified as having potentially fatal consequences on the UK's roads from incidents of drug driving.  Nitrous oxide, however, does have legitimate uses such as being used on maternity wards during labour. It is still legal for those purposes.  Licences are not needed to carry nitrous oxide, but users will be required to demonstrate they are not intending to consume it for psychoactive effects.

A clergyman was walking down the street when he came upon a group of about a dozen boys, all of them between 10 and 12 years of age.  The group surrounded a dog. Concerned that the boys were hurting the dog, he went over and asked "What are you doing with that dog?"

One of the boys replied, "This dog is just an old neighborhood stray. We all want him, but only one of us can take him home. So we've decided that whichever one of us can tell the biggest lie will get to keep the dog."

Of course, the reverend was taken aback. "You boys shouldn't be having a contest telling lies!" he exclaimed. He then launched into a ten minute sermon against lying, beginning, "Don't you boys know it's a sin to lie," and ending with, "Why, when I was your age, I never told a lie."

There was dead silence for about a minute.  Just as the reverend was beginning to think he'd gotten through to them, the smallest boy gave a deep sigh and said, "All right, give him the dog."

The owner of a drug store walks in to find a guy leaning heavily against a wall. The owner asks the clerk "What's with that guy over there by the wall?" 

The clerk replies, "Well, he came in here this morning to get something for his cough. I couldn't find the cough syrup, so I gave him an entire bottle of laxative."

The owner screams, "You idiot!  You can't treat a cough with a bottle of laxatives!"

The clerk calmly replies, "Of course you can! Look at him; he's afraid to cough."

https://proverbs31.org/read/devotions/full-post/2023/05/18/numbering-our-days-with-hope?utm_campaign=Daily%20Devotions&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=257063150&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--qYYKD6OVUxoHaumGEGlhHtVdTG7UeiL1M0OvmRXQg4h1LTxoNdyXxW4nApaR16sdh221iyiET9PZlV-_5bb871UYHtw&utm_content=257063150&utm_source=hs_email#disqus_thread

Numbering Our Days With Hope
May 18, 2023
by Ruth Chou Simons

“So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:12 (ESV)

Do you ever get bogged down in the everyday mundane?

I sure do.  Do you sometimes feel as if the right-now, never-ending emails, to-dos, laundry, homework, conflict resolution, dirty dishes, and carpool lines are always pressing in, always swirling, but never quite getting you anywhere?

Me too.  One of the encouragements I find myself repeating again and again to myself and the women around me is not to let the mundane, everyday tasks of life or the busyness of any particular season rob us of rhythms and priorities that help us know and love Jesus more. We always need the reminder to keep our eyes on our eternal hope in Him.  Maybe it’s my age (let’s just say I’m in my mid-late 40s, shall we?), or maybe it’s the season I’m in (preparing to graduate my oldest child from college and see him off to grad school in another state), but Psalm 90 and its implications have resonated in my heart and mind over the last several months.  The psalmist, often presumed to be Moses, asks God to “teach us to number our days” (Psalm 90:12).

Perhaps what’s most encouraging to me in this passage is the use of the word “teach” because that means it’s normal not to automatically have wisdom for how to live our days purposefully, wisely and rightly motivated. This is something to be learned over time.  Numbering our days means pausing for regular consideration of our days in light of God’s ways recognizing the finite gift of our lives here on earth and gaining “a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12) as we steward what God has given us. This framework gives us permission to live with both courage and caution, simultaneously constrained and carefree. In the big, life-altering decisions and in the everyday mundane.  The eternal hope of Christ gives purpose to our days. There is a destination we’re headed to a hope not yet fully realized and this world is not it.  So numbering our days isn’t about mustering up fervor to “live life to the fullest” or to “carpe diem” our way through life. No, life’s meaning has already been secured by the image of God we carry in us (Genesis 1:27) and the finished work of redemption purchased for us by Jesus (Ephesians 1:7).  What does it mean to number our days, then?

It means rejoicing in our eternal hope and allowing it to shape the choices we make how we spend our time, where we look for encouragement, how we spend money, what entertainment we seek out, and the people we choose to invest in and listen to.  If we consider every day as part of God’s plan to teach us to take our eyes off of our immediate circumstances, we can set our minds on the God who has purposefully placed us in the midst of our current season so that we might live for Him. When we remember that God has numbered our days, we treasure everything that reminds us we already have everything we need in Him.