Life is a such a precious thing. It is enduring through the ages and yet it is so fleeting. We are here today and gone tomorrow. We do not realize that the greatest treasure we have is life.
Here is a truth that cannot be refuted: sooner or later we each will loose everything and everyone, its only a matter of time. We should all then treasure each other.
Yes, we live our lives and we accumulate things. We buy cars, clothes, houses, furniture, food, pleasures, travel, and luxuries. As the years pass the day comes when we start to give those things away. We divest ourselves of all we have accumulated. We let go of those things one by one.
The same is true with people. At 18 we are on top of the world. At 90 we have already seen so many of those classmates listed on the obituary page of the local newspaper. Yes, we are saying goodbye one by one to people we have known. It may be brothers, sisters, cousins, uncles, aunts, sons and daughters, mother and father, and husband or wife. Finally, we look around and wonder where everyone has gone. So many are gone. We may be left alone. We have let go of all our things and so many people we have known and love. Life is eventually about letting go of everything and everyone. It's only a matter of time.
Finally, we too will take our turn and let go of the most valuable thing we have in this life. We let go of our own life and fly away. We are no more in this world and of this earth. We had to let go of everything.
Someone reading these lines might say, "well, that is true and it is very sad, what is the point?" I am not writing these words to be morbid but to be hopeful. To ponder the letting go of things and life that will eventually be the lot of all of us is to cherish what is most valuable.
The thoughts here can help us realize what is really important and what is not that important at all. Grab hold of each other and love each other. Cherish the people in your life. Know they are so special and you will not always have them. Loss can be a painful thing but it is inevitable for all humans. My mother was a woman who never really valued things nor very impressed by them. What she did value was people. She loved her family and she genuinely cared about the events in the lives of people. My grandparents were the same way. Things never impressed them. Family, people, and relationships is what they sought after.
A man from the hills was taken to the valley by family to the big mall one day. They took him through the mall to see all the stores and all the things there. When the journey was over they asked what he thought of it all. He answered back, "I have never seen so many things that I did not need." Therein is wisdom.
Here is something that might help. God is with us now. He is ever so close. God is eternal. Build a relationship with the Almighty and cultivate it all your life in Bible study and fervent prayer. As you grow old the relationship you have with God will be rich and strong and carry you through. As you lie there on your death bed and soon to fly away you will know the Almighty holds your hand and will take you away to a safe harbor. Blessed be the name of the Lord!
I do believe with all my heart that one day I too will let go of all these things of life and all the worries that goes with them. I will say goodbye as I have already to one person after another that means so much to me. If I live long enough I will say goodbye to my beloved wife or she will say goodbye to me depending on which goes first. I will loose it all. I cannot keep my beloved for ever. She cannot keep me. We shall let go and fly away.
I have entered the hospital rooms so many times to observe a elderly man or woman sitting by the bedside of the one they love. Years upon years of memories flood their souls. They cling to each other for as long as they can. When death comes the surviving loved one will finally leave the room and pause at the doorway to look back one more time at that very special one. A final goodbye. Such is life.
I believe that I will see again all those I have lost. When my turn comes and all those I leave behind here I know will one day see me again. Happy days it will be to have that grand reunion in heaven with all my dear friends and family and to see them fresh and immortal. What a great day that shall be.
Do not let this discourage you or make you morbid. Rather, let it encourage you to build good relationships with family and friends. Cultivate the human treasure that is all around you. I have stood by the beside of many that would die. I have watched many die. None of them were talking at the end about things but all were talking of the love they had for family and friends and for God. Then, we know what really matters. However, let us not wait to that last moment to realize the true treasures of life.
This time last week the people who died in the Oklahoma storms were alive and well. Today, death has taken so many. They would have never believed last week that this week they would be dead. But, such is the reality. We today do not know where we shall be next week. Alive? Or, dead and soon buried. Let us treasure the most important things in life.
We are all moving on with our lives and we will notice one day as we start to really let go. One by one the things of life will be gone and one by one the people of our lives will be gone. Finally, we take our turn. We leave our body here in this earth and our soul goes to God.
May God bless you with wisdom and eyes to see the wonder of life and the true treasures that are all around you. Fathers and mothers, do you see those children? Do you really see them? Husbands and wives, do you see each other? Do you really see each other?
God help us to see so that one day when we say our final goodbye to this world and all that is of this world then we might say hello to God in heaven and to those precious ones we lost in this life. God be praised, God be praised, now and for eternity.
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