Sunday, May 10, 2009

Are You Living Learning How To Live?

“The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but we wait so long to begin it.” Anonymous

Life, according to Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2008, it is ‘a term used to summarize the activities characteristic of all organisms—ranging from such primitive forms as cyanobacteria (formerly known as blue-green algae) to plants and animals. These activities fall into two major categories: reproduction and metabolism. The mechanism of reproduction is now known to be controlled by the properties of certain large molecules called nucleic acids.’ Practically, this definition means nothing to a group of youths who has no adequate experience to enjoy the wonderful opportunities that life offers. Shamefully, a deserted mother in the West of Africa, especially Liberia, do not have enough words to explain to her five kids the real meaning of life. Yet, we are all under the heaven living LIFE.

Spanish writer and philosopher, Miguel de Unamuno y Jugo (1864 - 1936) once reflected, “Life is doubt, and faith without doubt is nothing but death.” What is the value of life if we do not value it?

Do you know the meaning of life? Have you personally encounter the definition of life? As a young boy, I believing that life is the period between birth and death. According to classic dictionary, it is the quantity that makes living animals and plants different from dead organisms and inorganic matter. If this is a true definition of life, why some human live as if they are dead? Why should a kid suffer without a parent, a girl without self-esteem, and a youth without a vision? Are they living or living dead? If for any scientific or divine reason a dead body cannot talk, think and help itself, is it different from a living individual who does the same?

One morning a Ghanaian friend came running to me saying, “Joe, an old man told me to tell all my friends that we should try our best to visit the court room, the church and the mortuary. I think before people die it is logically they visit these three places.” After he left my house, I knew that I was not dreaming. It may be what U.S. poet, Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869 - 1935) said, “Life is the game that must be played.” Visiting these places could help me live a better life. However, as a Christian who have confess with my mouth the Lord Jesus, believe in my heart that God has raised Him from the dead, can it benefit a youth like me to visit the court room, the church and the mortuary? To get rid of such an elusive demand that was creeping my mind, curiosity found the following:

THE COURT
U.S. proverb declares, “In hell one should pay court to the devil.” The court is an insecure room full of few crooked judges [unjust men and women who neither feared God nor man] and corrupt lawyers getting the innocent guilty and the guilty innocent. If you do not believe what you are reading, visit the court room few hours to understand how this life is lived and ruled without your concern. Pat Robertson, author of the best-selling, The New World Order wrote:

“One man set up a loaded shotgun in the bedroom of his farm house.
During the night a burglar attempted a break in and was shot in both
legs. Later, the burglar sued the man and collected a $30,000 award.
In another case, a jury ordered an outdoor restaurant to pay $3 million
to a patron who was stung by a bee.”

Dr. Robertson also quoted Charles Evans Hughes of the Supreme Court who had made the cynical statement, “We are under a constitution, but the constitution is what the judges say it is.”

THE CHURCH
The Church is the body of Christ. It is a place I must fellowship and encounter my spiritual blessing. I do not know about you. If you are a Christian or not, you must attend a Bible believing Church. Everything you need in life [wealth, success, education, fulfillment, etc] is indeed connected to your faithfulness to meet God. Religiously, find a place of worship. Listen to Desmond Tutu (1931 - ), South African clergyman and civil rights activist, “Beware when you take on the Church of God. Others have tried and have bitten the dust.” Unfortunately, now-a-days, people take the church [God house or holy place] for fun. Robert C. Savage wrote:

“Some go to Church to take a walk,
And others go to laugh and talk,
Some go to Church to find a friend,
And some go there an hour to spend.
Some go to Church to meet a lover
And some go there a fault to cover.
Some go to Church to learn the preacher’s name
And some to criticize his fame
Some go to Church to doze and nod
And some go to worship God.”

It was said that, “In the nineteenth century men lost their fear of God and acquired a fear of microbes.” If you are living a life going to Church with the wrong motive –change it and establish a fresh relationship with God by loving your neighbors and worshiping Him. Remember, “Going to the Church in the morning is nullified if you plan to go to the devil in the evening.” [Robert C. Savage].

THE MORTUARY
The Mortuary is a funeral home or a place where the dead are kept. Maya Angelou (1928 - ), a
U.S. writer wrote, “Death to the young is more than that undiscovered country; despite its inevitability, it is a place having reality only in song or in other people's grief.” If you like it or not, as soon we are giving the only key to eternity [death] we will all end there some hopeful day to come! Visiting the mortuary I think will tell you how valueless you are when you do not have the birth of God in you. The dead bodies of wonderful people are madly handle any how. With your own eyes looking at beautiful but potential humans who could be a blessing to generations to come, you will never waste your life and it’s precious time spending it on things that cannot benefit to yourself and happiness to others.

Beyond my personally knowledge, I have learned that, “The study of the ways in which the dead are treated in different cultures leads to a better understanding of the many diverse views about death and dying, as well as of human nature.” According to research, “The essential purposes of modern embalming are preservation of the body to permit burial without unseemly haste and prevention of the spread of infection both before and after burial. Cosmetic work is used to restore injured facial features or for aesthetic reasons.” This would happen to you. How you invest your life will make you appreciate it when it is about to end. Robert C. Savage reflected, “Oftentimes we don’t appreciate life until it’s time for it to end.”

I cannot scare you! My duty is but to generously inform and motivate you to love other, love God and live a fulfilled life. I believe you are destined to not fail in life. No. Regardless of who you are, God have designed us to overcome the toughness of this world. Leon Trosky said, “Life is not an easy matter… you can’t live through it without falling into frustration and cynicism unless you have before you, a great idea which raise you above personal misery, above weakness, above all kinds of perfidy and baseness.” You stand a better chance to pile up every good thing this earth have. Learn to live your life by organizing your desire dream. Prioritize your goal and go to work. If you don’t, generations to come will never remember that you have ever existed.

Knowledgably, the best way to live life is to experience life. A better way is to live it without ending in the brutal hands of poverty. And to do this, make reading a habit and constantly read the BIBLE [Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth]. Robert C. Savage wrote in pocket Wisdom saying; “An atheist approaching the end of life made this confession, ‘There’s one thing that mars all the pleasure of my life… I am afraid the Bible is true. If I could know for certain that death is an eternal sleep. I should be happy. But here is what pierces my soul… if the Bible is true I am lost forever?’”

Research from "Eschatology," Microsoft® Student 2008 [DVD], Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation, 2007 reads, “The ideas held throughout history concerning the future of the world and of humanity are only imperfectly known today. The belief in a coming destruction of the world by fire or flood is found among groups in the Pacific islands as well as among American aborigines; this belief probably did not originate in astronomical speculation, but was rather engendered by some terrifying earthly experience of the past.”

It is time you start investing time in things that you will spend the rest of your life doing. C. P. Kettering said, “My interest is in the future because I am going to spend the rest of my life there.” Going to Church may prevent you from entering the court room or entering in the mortuary. “He who provides for life, but makes no provision for eternity is wise for a moment but a fool forever. God’s children never says goodbye for the last time” [Robert C. Savage].

Thanks for reading and may God richly bless you!
I'm a passionate inspirational writer. I reside on the Buduburam Refugee Camp in Ghana where I look forward to have educational sponsorship. I look forward to receive your comments.

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