Life Is Fragile

Very rarely am I at a loss for words, but over the past week I have truly been speechless.  The senselessness of the shootings in Aurora, Colorado have left me pondering on the fragility of life and whether we are safe anywhere.  As optimistic as I am, it pains me to think of the frequency of these mass murders which seem to take place every time we listen to the news.  My heart bled when I heard the stories of some survivors and how they watched others die beside them. What is the lesson for us who are left behind?  I don’t know which lessons you have gleaned, however, I will attempt to list the ones I have learned below:

·         Life is fragile so handle with prayer.  Every time you leave your home may be the last time you walk through those doors, so pray that God’s presence be with you.

·         Tell your loved ones how much you love them.  Yes, this may seem mushy, but let them know how much you appreciate them (even the teenagers who don’t want to show affection) and often – because if you’re taken from them unexpectedly, they know how much you loved them.

·         Treat others with kindness.  When we are kind to others, we acknowledge them as being worthy of respect and also God’s handiwork.  It may be your last opportunity to do so.

All in all, nobody wins in a situation like this.  The alleged murderer and his family feel as much pain as the victims and their families.  It has been said that hurt people hurt other people, and it is my prayer that we are able to help some hurt people heal whenever the opportunity presents itself. 

I was just thinking . . .

The Examined Life

Socrates, the father of Western Philosophy was always in the pursuit of knowledge. One of his more popular quotes, “The unexamined life is not worth living” can be debated for hours on end. To my mind, it means a life which is not evaluated from time to time lacks room for improvement and growth, resulting in an aimless journey thus ultimately wasted on the person living such life. This is not a new phenomenon, even the prophet Jeremiah told the people of Israel, “Let us take a good look at the way we are living and reorder our lives under God”, Lamentations 3:40 The Message paraphrase.  Within recent times, Don Miguel Ruiz in his book The Four Agreements (and more recently, The Fifth Agreement with his son Don Jose Ruiz) gave us some pointers for evaluating our lives.

It is interesting to note that the premise of these books is to make agreements with ourselves; after all, we are responsible for nobody else but ourselves.  It is a practical way to ‘examine’ our lives and making the necessary adjustments. The agreements are:

·         Be impeccable with your word – speaking with integrity and saying only what you mean.

·         Don’t take anything personally – nothing others do is because of you.

·         Don’t make assumptions – finding the courage to ask questions and communicating your expectations.

·         Always be your best – under any circumstance, do your best (which will change from time to time i.e. sick or healthy, employed or unemployed etc.)

·         Be skeptical, but learn to listen – don’t believe yourself or anyone else by using your power of discernment to get at the truth.

If we take the time to examine our lives from time to time, I believe we can live authentic lives. I was just thinking . . .