Life No Suppose Hard... But Who Said It Was Going To Be Easy?
Let us die young or let us live forever We don't have the power, but we never say never Sitting in a sandpit, life is a short trip The music's for the sad man -Alphaville https://youtu.be/t1TcDHrkQYg
My friend who just lost her coursemate to death this morning posted this on her WhatsApp status.
I do not know the deceased but I feel it deeply and mourn like I've known him.
It is common knowledge that death is inevitable but somehow, it has mastered the art of taking us unawares every time. So much so that we question God, we question the essence of life, we try to make ourselves feel better with the thought that they are in a better place.
But are they?... We do not know.
We are not in control. We did not choose when to come into the earth, so who are we to decide when it is our time to leave?
Life is not for us to make sense of. Life does what life wants to do. It is good sometimes, unbearable other times. Sometimes it feels easy, other times we suffer.
We often pray that the difficulty of life doesn't get to us but if not us, then who? Because there's enough of every shade of life to go round.
I learned to pray differently as a child. One of my favourite Catholic prayers has a line that goes
I offer you, Lord, my sufferings: to be endured for your greater glory.
The line said “My sufferings”, not to be taken away but to be endured.
Further into the prayer,
Make me prudent in planning, Courageous in taking risks. Make me patient in suffering, unassuming in prosperity.
Another subtle reminder that suffering will come and we will have to be patient through it because it doesn't last forever. Prosperity will take its turn too.
But even that is temporary. Towards the end of the prayer, we are reminded of the inevitable— Death!
Teach me to realize that this world is passing, That my true future is the happiness of heaven, That life on earth is short, And the life to come eternal.
Help me to prepare for death With a proper fear of judgment, But a greater trust in your goodness. Lead me safely through death To the endless joy of heaven.
I think of death often, almost as if I do not want to be caught off guard when it happens to me or to those I love but I do not think of it from a place of fear or sadness. If anything, death inspires me to live wholly and unapologetically, on my terms and God's terms only because “life on earth is short, And the life to come eternal.”
You may not say the prayer or think about death often, but moments like this where you are reminded of how short life is and how not in control we are of so many things, I hope you decide to make the best out of the little you can control and live fully.
From Toby, With Love ❤️