Friday, November
16, 2012
Today’s readings:
2 John 1: 4-9; Ps 119:1-18;
Luke 17:26-37
“This world is the land of the dying; the next is
the land of the living,” said Tryon Edwards. Hence we are living to die and
dying to live. The amazing thing is that death has no diary. One of the names of death among the Bahaya
of Tanzania is Tiruraga (Death does not make appointments with
people). This is in line with the English proverb: Death has no calendar. The moral implication of this proverb is that
we must be ready to cope with the reality of the unexpected death. Death is proverbially
portrayed as a norm as the Bahaya put it, okufa iteka, (to die is a
norm). Most cultures have a concept of death as a norm or a law. Emil Brunner
from a Christian cultural perspective asserted: “Death is a universal law of
nature, to which every man is subject. Man must die, just as all living must
die.” When all is said, the conclusion
is be prepared. “As it was in the days
of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of man. They ate, they drank,
they married, they were given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the
ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all” (Luke 17: 26-27). This is a
timely advice not to be caught napping but to remain alert to meet the
Lord. If you are always ready now, you will be ready then. Be prepared. It was not raining when Noah
started “building” the ark.
Alfred Nobel invented dynamite which had destructive
power. In 1888, when Alfred’s brother Ludvig died, a French newspaper
mistakenly ran an obituary for Alfred Nobel which called him the “merchant of
death.” Not wanting to go down in history with such a horrible epitaph, Nobel
created a will that soon shocked his relatives and established the now famous
Nobel Prizes including Nobel Peace Prize. Alfred Nobel came back to his senses after
reading an obituary about him and after being called the merchant of death. With
this in mind let us reflect on the psalmist’s words: “Teach us how short our
life is, so that we may become wise” (Psalm 90:12).
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