Life Uncertain

Sandra and I just watched a movie called, “The next three days” with Russell Crowe which is about a family torn apart when his wife is falsely accused of murder and imprisoned for life.  The next morning we see on the television about the fifth largest earthquake in recorded history which hit Japan and devastate their country.  Then, you think about the events over the last several years of economic collapse and corruption.  Suddenly after a lifetime of working and saving people’s hard-earned savings vanish overnight.  In a split second our ‘world’ can be ripped out from under us:  A drunk driver slams into oncoming traffic killing a father of four.  An all-star athlete plays the game of their life only to get sucker hit in the fourth quarter leaving him paralyzed for life.  A wife finds out her husband is unfaithful and abandons their family.  A child disappears without a trace.  A random act of violence destroys ones inner confidence and leads to a life time of depression and failure.  A flash flood destroys a home whose insurance policy doesn’t cover ‘acts of God’.  A doctor informs another that their child has an incurable and debilitating medical condition.  The list could go on forever.
               
We spend our entire lives trying to organize ourselves and the world around us.  We try to create a life that is predictable and safe.  But what real control do we have?  We each have free agency to make our own decisions, but so does everyone else and their choices ultimately DO affect us.  We each rely on the basic laws of nature to get through our daily routine, but sometimes those same impersonal laws destroy the very safety we counted on them to protect.  In the end, we really have very little control of this life.  So what can we do?

First, We can choose to be prepared.  Nobody knows what is coming.  Nobody can have planned for every possible contingency.  But there are a lot of ‘probables’ in life--common occurrences that may cross our path.  It is the wise man/women who conscientiously and in proper moderation is prepared: Savings, Insurances, Education, Friends/Family (good relationships to lean on), Testimony and Temple ordinances, Low debt, Skills, etc…  Often if prepared, disaster can strike and devastating consequences can be avoided or greatly minimized.

Second, We can choose how we react.  We might not be able to prevent the actions of others (or nature) from affecting us, but we do have the ability to decide how we will react to such unfortunate circumstances.  We can choose to stay in control of ourselves.  We can choose to be the ‘Masters of our fate and the captain of our souls’.

A great example of this is President Nelson Mandela (Madiba) who was falsely branded as a terrorist and spent 27 years of his life as a political prisoner breaking stones in a limestone quarry.  He survived his ordeal in part because of adhering to the convictions of his favorite poem  that he had written on a scrap of paper in his prison cell.  It reads:

Invictus

(Unconquered)

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the Pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll.

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.

William Ernest Henley (1875)

Third, We can choose what we believe.  Faith in God can comfort us when we find ourselves in ‘wild tempests’.  The classic line spoken by Christ after the panicked Apostles feared for their lives taught us that storms come and go, but to those who believe they may have peace.

Mark 4:37-39 And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he (Jesus) was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

Not all storms pass instantly.  We may be asked to carry several crosses throughout our lives, so of which will be burdens throughout our life.  But we are not alone, we can have peace in our hearts and God’s assistance to press forward with faith.

Fourth, We can choose to positively influence others.  There are three types of people.  Those who lift, those who serve only themselves and those who pull down.  We can be the light, the beacon of light on top the hill to others who are struggling.  Wouldn’t we all want someone to be there to life us up or to provide us succor in our times of need.  We can and should prepare ourselves to be available and willing to help others in need.

In the end, this life is but a fleeting moment of our eternity.  Most things in life won’t be missed after we are gone.  Only those things that really matter, namely family, relationships, and our testimony, but these things can be eternal.  No man-made or natural disaster can break our temple sealings or our testimonies unless WE choose them to be destroyed by OUR actions or inactions.  This life is precious and precarious all in one.  I am grateful, to know in whom I have trusted, in whose arm never faileth, and who will someday call me home to dwell with Him and all that I love in safety and peace and unfathomable joy.