The Greatest Tragedy

Death comes in many forms. Divorce, loss of friendship and of course the actual ending of life bring the feeling and reality of the absolute helplessness and blatant knowledge that we are not in control. The finality that squeezes our heart and keeps our lungs from filling with air is unrelenting. But Death is not the greatest tragedy. A young life cut short, an accidental death, a birth defect; these are not the greatest tragedies.

The greatest tragedy is a life that does not point to the eternal, that does not remind us that this life is short and there is so much more to consider than just these 80 or so years that we may be given. Our bodies die, but we go on living. And what have we left behind? What is our legacy? Of what will people be reminded when they peruse our character, integrity, accomplishments, awards, possessions, job, skills and art? Will they be mournful that we are gone, but richer having met us? Or will they be sad that our accomplishments on this Earth had momentary results that have blown away in the wind, forgotten as quickly as the momentary pleasure that they gave?

Is it our place to question when a friend goes Home? Is it our place to question ourselves, as if we somehow could have stopped it from happening, as if somehow God wasn't around at the time, and needed us to step in? As if we could have done anything! Don't we know that God was watching, God is in control, and God knows the Eternal picture that we have no clue about?

Even though God slays me, I will trust Him. We are merely Clay in the Potter's Hands. He will do as He desires. Yet His Mercy is Boundless, His Grace, Amazing. Throw yourself at His feet, and ask for that Mercy that He so freely gives.

Then live! Live in such a way that you pass on the legacy of a victorious life of faith walking the trail that God has marked out for you. Live this life to it's fullest, and seek to leave something behind that does not burn down, or rust, or get lost, a Legacy that points to the Eternal. Do you believe that the things that God is asking of you today are important? Do you believe that these jobs, done with Love, will last eternally? Do the job that God has asked of you today. And then lay yourself down.