We Are Given Only One Life to Live . . . Only One -- A Reflection This Lent

Life is beautiful. Yes, indeed . . . in many different ways. But it is far from perfect. There are events, things and people that contribute to making it happy and beautiful, but they can also at times make it sad or ugly, with or without our own choosing, or fault.

This journey called life can be so engaging and our desire to get the most out of it so intense that we would like it to last forever. On the path of life, we could tarry a lot to enjoy the flowers and the fruit from the trees on the wayside. But when the path becomes rocky we could become disheartened or lose the strength to walk on.

We are not alone on the path of life. We have fellow travelers with us. They are part of our journey, just as we are part of theirs.

We know this journey will end, sometime. We do not know when, and how.

Thus it is important for us to have a focus and a correct understanding and perspective of what life is really all about and what its purpose is. Life is a one-time pilgrimage, or a single journey to somewhere from where there is no returning. Dives, the rich man in the biblical story of Lazarus, the beggar, found this out but it was too late. He did not have a second chance. His regretting was useless.

We are given only one life to live. Only one. And after this the judgment, when we shall stand before God and make an accounting of how we each lived our life. "And just as it is appointed for men to die once, and after that comes judgment." Hebrews 9:27

Jesus tells us what is truly important. He alone sets the guide on how we should live our life. It is thus important to look into ourselves and make things right and get back into the right relationship with God, with others, and with ourselves. If we ignore Him and instead follow our own limited perceptions and selfish will, that would be the height of folly on our part.

Lent invites us to reassess our values and priorities in life: To live our life as God wills. But this is not always easy. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal." Matthew 6:19-20

We have only one life to live. Only one. We should live it right. The first time. The only time.

"What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but suffers the loss of his soul?" Mark 8:36