From time to time I think about what life would be like. An article said, "Life is not a race to win nor is it a business to make a profit. It is a journey!" Yes, it is! Truly one's life is a journey. But each life is not a journey over the same course like a marathon race. It is not a journey that goes the same distance, 10 km or 42.195 km. Or one's life is not a journey that lasts for the same time period, 70 or 80 years. Life is a journey, but it is an unknown, undecided and unpredictable journey. No one knows where they will go, how far and how long they will go. There are no courses, sight seeing stops, road maps or information centres on life's journey.
I have four brothers and four sisters. Among the nine of us, including me, none of us have been going down the same or even a similar path of life. All of us are going our own way and do each one's spouse and children as well. When I met some of my high school class mates some years ago, at first it was hard to find common interests, for each of us had been journeying a different way for a long time. Soon, we were all excited about how much different we were, one to another.
Since life is a journey, so everyone needs to prepare for it. Life is an unknown journey, it requires one to search for a direction. Life is an undecided journey, it is urgent to find out a meaning and purpose for one's life. And for life is an unpredictable journey, it is necessary to depend on something and somebody who is able to be a good guide and give right advice. Sometimes we are able to imitate the journey of predecessors who had shown us a good life example. The good news is that we are not alone. We are living in God's world. And God will guide us in all we do and everywhere we go.
A weeks ago, a former church member sent me "the last wishes of Alexander the Great". Alexander the Great (356 - 323 B.C.) finished his short life's journey with these final three wishes; "1) The best doctors should carry his coffin, 2) The wealth he has accumulated (money, gold, precious stones, etc.) should be scattered along the procession to the cemetery, and 3) His hands should be let loose hanging outside the coffin for all to see!" No matter what and who, everyone's life journey should be ended with his. Not even the best doctors can stop death. All earthly things will be left on the earth. And everyone has to come and go with empty hands. On the way of our life's journey, let us enjoy our life, day by day, with what we have, with what we can do, and with whomever is around us here and now, "for there is nothing better for the people under the sun than to eat, and drink, and enjoy themselves with their own labours" (Ecclesiastes 8:15).
