Have you ever considered how fragil life is?
When we are young our view of the world is the view of one who is immortal and by this I mean immortality in the sense that our flesh will never die, we can take chances, and we have a "it can't happen to me" attitude. We age a bit and our attitude changes a bit and we see that "it CAN happen to me" and we begin to be a bit more careful. Finally as the time our sunset approaches we realize how short our time on earth has been and we finally understand the fragility and wonder of life.
You are a walking talking miracle a marvel of design with each cog in place and all controlled by a magnificant computer called "The Brain."
Even before your life began you proved how strong you were. The sperm that fertilized the egg in your mother's womb had to beat all of the other competitors in this race to create life, and you won that race, proving your self to be the strongest of the strong. You are also the beloved of God becasue it was His will that gave you strength to win the race. He had and has a vision of you and guess what you are the exact person that he envisioned. There is no one just like you in the entire universe. You may have a twin brother or sister and be as identical as two peas in a pod so much so that nobody can tell you apart. God knows the difference and he loves each separately.
But the title of this entry has to do with the fragility of life. Holy Saturday 2011 dawned as just another day. I was planning to get ready for the Easter Vigil Mass at our new Church, St. Mary of Vernon in Indian Creek Illinois and my wife was finishing her ablutions when suddenly I had a chest pain that would not go away. I thought it was indigestion but then it started crawling down my left arm and I recognized the enemy for what it was. I called to my wife and she quicky dressed and we drove six blocks to the hospital. If you ever want to get through the paperwork and waiting time of the Emergency Room, here is what you do. Come in as a past middle aged man, overweight, underexercised, and complain of chest pains. You see when I did that the doors swung open and in minutes I was in a hospital gurney, hooked up to an EKG, an IV and the center of attention. My heart had four places where the arteries were blocked. I was whisked down to the cat lab and was soon the proud owner of a stent that opened the artery that was 90% blocked. Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday came with me in the hospital. On Monday the doctor inserted three more stents to open three other arteries that were severly blocked. Had I not listened to the message my body was giving and had I not gotten to the hospital quickly I could have died, killed by a clot no bigger than a pencil eraser. As it is, I got there in that golden hour when they could actually fix the issue and do so before my heart was damaged.
But look at how life is so very fragile. The smallest thing could end it, even while you are reading this. Do not be afraid, I am sure you will rise from bed tomorrow. But think of these things:
Is there anything that you have always wanted to do but were afraid to do it because it might be risky? Do it anyway.
Is there someone you want to visit, an old friend, a brother, a sister, a mother, do it soon for life is too short not to.
Is there someone you need to forgive? Forgive soon before you lose the chance to do so . Funny thing about resentments is that they hurt us much more than the person we are holding a grudge against.
Do you take time to laugh, at things around you, at yourself perhaps, do it soon becasue a joyful spirit does not have time to be anything other than joyful
Do you pray, do you have a spiritual life? I hope that you do and I hope that you spend some time being with God. You need not speak in "thees and thou's" to him, speak to him as a friend for He is that to be sure.
Life is very fragile. Embrace it, love it, honor it.
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