The expression “the writing on the wall” seems to come from today’s first reading. A detached hand writes on the wall of the palace that the king’s time is coming to an end. Daniel is the only prophet who can interpret it correctly and pronounces that the king will lose everything. And surely he does. Right after this reading in the Bible, the king dies. He loses everything, indeed, and the prophecy is fulfilled.
Jesus also warns that we should not be ignorant of the writing on the wall either. One day will be our last. And we can’t take the U-Haul to heaven with all of our prized possessions and accomplishments. But Jesus invites us to see that we can still have life even in death. Death is not the end of the story. We can “secure our lives,” as Jesus says, if we trust in him and trust that we can share our life with him if we follow him. We might suffer due to being Christians, too, but if we trust that there is more to life than things and parties, we can celebrate with God in the kingdom at the eternal banquet in the life to come.
The Scriptures give us that sobering reminder that there will be an end to this life on earth whether we accept it or not. The Babylonian king was frightened by death and wanted to continue living it here on earth. Yet the children of God can trust that death is a moment in our story, not the conclusion. And so we can, with the help of God’s grace, accept death and find peace to embrace it when it comes, knowing that we will have eternal peace and joy with him forever.