Life is Short - Do Good While You're Here

I just learned that my sister died last night.  In January, my nice died - this was my sisters oldest daughter.  A little later, my Uncle died.  Last week, a friend of my daughter - a teenager - died of cancer.  Back in October, a young lady that lived with my family for about a year also died of cancer - she was only 24 years old! Even last night and today at Maryland Day at the University of Maryland, I learned about the death of a young man named Andrew Reisse who was hit by a car 3 years ago in California, I believe. (A very kind woman named Anne, a friend of Reisse's family was sharing this with me as we talked about life and other things.)

Death is a constant!  As my mother told me today on the phone when talking about all of this, the one thing we know after a person is born is that they will one day die - including, off course, ourselves.

I don't like death.  I don't like the idea that my loved ones will die.  I don't like the idea that I will die.  I don't like funerals.  I don't like hearing about terminal diseases, hospice care for the dying, terrible accidents that end in death, and other related tragedies.  I hate the death toll given in the news every day regarding terrorist attacks, military battles in Iraq, Sierra or Afghanistan.  I hate it.  My friend Sean shared with me about a guy I knew in college we called Mo who lost his mother.  And, I get notifications as work on an almost bi-monthly basis hearing about someone who just died; you know, a former employee or the the parent/child/sibling/spouse of a current employee.  I hate it.

Yet, it is inevitable.  When my niece died, my nephew, her brother, put on facebook "F-CK CANCER".  A friend once told me that sometimes profanity is the only appropriate word - I disagreed, but I understand his point.  But I get it. I GET IT - death is painful, terrible, unwelcome, undesirable!  But  it is inevitable.

So then, knowing that you will die, what should you be doing now?  You think we would understand this and strive to live life to the fullest.  We would care about others, do good, love and help our fellow human beings.  But no - we don't.  Instead, we fight, divorce, selfishly use people in all kinds of ways.  We seek our own comfort and pleasure at the expense of others - that is, we really don't think about or care about others as we seek pleasure, peace, and comfort.  Sure, we don't necessarily want anyone to get hurt, but for many human being, it's primarily a selfish passion that drives us to act and live and do the things we do in life..

What if God is real?  What if eternal life is real and we are aware of an afterlife after we die?  What if there really is an eternal, transcendent ethical system based on some concept of TRUTH that lives on after we die and we remain conscious of it after we die?  The realm of faith, religion, and ideas around metaphysical  and truth are uncomfortable at best and scary beyond reason at it's worst,

If there is a God, we better find out which god is God and then try to live in a way to honor what this God has created: life in abundance and ultimately (from our perspective) mankind!  So I say, do good while you're here.  Help others.  Give generously.  Don't be selfish.  Yet, to be sure we define "good" and all the actions, mindsets, and emotions that go with it, we had better strive to find and know the God who established "good".  Otherwise, we simply make it up, which will ultimately keep us at war, with millions living in poverty, addicted to drugs, selling their bodies, buying their bodies, exploiting and using people for their own selfish passions, and all other sorts of stuff. Why?  Because one mans "good" is different from another.  Yet - both men will die!

Something to think about as I grieve the loss of yet another family member.