Death does not Discriminate...

“Every man's life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another."

―Ernest Hemingway”

No one knows the year, month, day, hour or minute of their own death.  God knows, but man does not.  It seems as of late there are so many people out there making that decision for other people.   We hear of more and more shootings here in our own city every day.  God will judge those who do this for it is not their right to take a life he’s given to be lived.  The one thing I have noticed about these deaths in recent news is there is no color, no race, no age that is targeted.  Death is equal in his choosing.  Even when not at another’s hand he is equal.  Young and old alike are called to take their last breath every single day.  When we are young we tend not to think about death that much unless it affects our immediate day or lives.  We think in our younger days that we will live forever and that thirty, forty, fifty and so forth are far off in our future and we need not worry about them.  The problem with that sort of thinking is we may never be lucky enough to live that old.  One needs to think about what if.  I mean no one should walk around dreading death.  God gave us our lives to glorify Him and to be happy and joyful.  He didn’t want us walking in dread.  That is the good news too… if we believe in Him and have faith in him we have the opportunity to live forever.  Isn’t that something most people look for?  Eternal life?  Immortality?

I do know that as of late I have been thinking more and more of how quickly life goes by and how fragile it really is.  I watch as my parents become weaker and closer to their time of end.  I can see them so vital in my mind.  It hasn’t been that long ago that they were active and strong and now they hardly do much of anything.  They seem to enjoy life even though they have their illnesses and I know faith runs strong in my mom and dad’s lives so they have God with them.  That is a personal relationship for each of them though and I hope they are at peace with their relationship with God.  I dread the day that God calls them home.  I’m not sure who I am or who I will be with them no longer here.  They have been there and been almost a daily part of my life for 51+ years.  I have a partner to help me when that time comes and I’m blessed with a brother that I love more than life who will be there for me.  God has blessed me with a niece and nephew from my brother and with two new nieces from my marriage and a sister-in-law I think the world of.  He’s given me a new set of parents in Jacobs mom and dad.  He has blessed me so much and I know I need to be grateful, but I dread the day I lay my mom and dad to rest.  Who knows what tomorrow holds though so I will just be happy to be with them when I can now.  I don’t get to spend a lot of time with them.  Seems like life is so busy, but I try to make the most of the time I do have.  Death is a good lesson for us all though.  Do you really have time to judge others?  Do you have time for hate and anger in your heart?  These are not the things our Lord and Savior would like us to have.  Be kind to one another.  Forgive.  You don’t have to have people in your life you can’t trust, but stop the hate.  If they’ve lied about you or hurt you in some way, forgive them and move on.  It’s not worth the precious time you have and it’s not what God would want for you.  Be happy and rejoice in the day you’re give for Death does not discriminate and he will not take time to see if you’ve gotten your affairs in order when he finds your name on his list.