Life is So Short, Cherish Every Moment and Live It Well

Let me start out by taking a quote from Mitch Albom's Tuesdays With Morrie,

"Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live."

Today, I am reminded that our lives are much like the wick of a candle, once it has been lit, it will slowly burn out and in time, it will die unless the wind blows the flame away giving it yet another day to live.

But the inevitable truth is that our lives are short and the moment that we are born into the world, the hourglass has begun to pour out sand until our time runs out.

In Tuesdays With Morrie, Mitch's professor, Morrie Schwartz, tackled the subject of death and the imminence of it or the undeniable truth that one day we must all pass, with wisdom and resolve,

"Everyone knows they're going to die, but nobody believes it... If we did, we would do things differently.. most of us all walk around as if we're sleepwalking. 

We really don't experience the world fully, because we're half-asleep, doing things we automatically think we have to do."

The truth is that in certain moments of our lives or perhaps most of our lives, we do not really make the most out of the time that we are given each day and we waste our lives in the process. My professor in English mentioned the saying that youth is wasted in the young.

I somehow agree with her since, generally, young people have little sense of direction and a more careless attitude, being easily swayed by their desires or the desires of the people around them. It makes me think how much I could have done in those moments when I was just wandering, not knowing where to go.

Now, when I heard the news that my high school guidance counselor had just passed away this morning, it made me think all the more about life and the uncertainties of it.

Come to think of it, a few weeks ago, I thought about her and I looked back in those moments when we were still under her care, not fully knowing how she has been these days until today.

She was a very jovial person and, to me, she embodied the Christian life really well. She was kind, gentle, and considerate although her kindness and generosity were not always reciprocated nor appreciated. Still, she forged on and continued unwavering to live by the way that Jesus has shown us.

She never stopped reading the Word of God and she shared it with boldness and courage even if she knew that there would be harsh criticism and general neglect of it. As Paul had said in 2 Timothy 4:7-8,

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing."

I believe that my teacher and mentor had lived her life fully, as Jesus has promised. Her life, just as Paul had said in the latter parts of his, has been well spent and truly made a meaningful impact in many students' lives, including my own.

Her efforts may have been oftentimes undervalued by the people around her but I know that God's glory awaits her in heaven and that is the most precious prize above all human endeavors and achievements.

And though her wick has burned out, her flame gave much light, warmth, and hope to those who saw and felt it and that is incomparable to any contribution by human hands.