-- Norman Cousins
***
Like it or not, you were born to die! Ecclesiastes
3: 1-2 tells us. “There is a time for everything, and a season for every
activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a
time to die.” The reason we were born to die is so that we
can live. Remember, nothing lasts
forever: love and hate, and, joy and suffering are not intended to endure. Everything has a begin date (time to be born)
and an end date (time to die). Life’s
events certainly can precipitate an end date to love and hate, and joy and
suffering. And, ultimately, death will
determine our final end date as a mortal.
Remember, the Good Lord promises us that there will be seasons of death (time
to die) and seasons of rebirth (time to be born) throughout our lives.
So, if you are experiencing love, cherish it. Don’t ever take it for granted, for tomorrow it may no longer exist (time to die). If you are experiencing the effects of hatred, have faith that love will find a way (time to be born). If you are experiencing joy, be thankful, for tomorrow holds no guarantees (time to die). If you are experiencing suffering, believe that a new found happiness awaits you (time to be born).
So, if you are experiencing love, cherish it. Don’t ever take it for granted, for tomorrow it may no longer exist (time to die). If you are experiencing the effects of hatred, have faith that love will find a way (time to be born). If you are experiencing joy, be thankful, for tomorrow holds no guarantees (time to die). If you are experiencing suffering, believe that a new found happiness awaits you (time to be born).
You might ask, why would a
loving God allow us to experience hatred and suffering. It is because you cannot experience true love until you have felt the effects of hatred. You cannot experience joy until you have experienced the pain and suffering. Often, we have a tendency to take things for granted: we may get too comfortable with love or not appreciate the joys. The seasons in our lives are intended to remind us to cherish what we have, because nothing lasts forever.
Life starts with a heart beat and ends with a final heart beat. Remember it is in between those two heartbeats
that we were born to live and born to die. Recording artist, Kris Allen tells it best:
“Looking at the hands of the time we've been given
If this is all we got and we gotta start thinking
If every second counts on a clock that's ticking
Gotta live like we're dying.”
If this is all we got and we gotta start thinking
If every second counts on a clock that's ticking
Gotta live like we're dying.”
So,
life is a paradox: We were born to live,
yet born to die. I encourage you to
live, live, live! You can’t escape death,
it is inevitable! And, you really don’t
have much control over death. But, you do
have a whole lot of control over how you choose to live. Steve Jobs said, “Death is very likely the
single best invention of life." So I
urge you, get out there and live your life.
Live it loud and live it proud!
It’s
your life: live it, love it & celebrate it!
MJD
MJD
