I woke up this morning with a haunting sense of sadness, even as I thought back to 22 years ago when a dear friend of my father had been killed, shot in front of his wife and daughter. I was only 23 then and newly arrived into this city which is now my home and hearing of how he had been killed, so heartlessly is something I will never quite forget.
A few months later as I heard the chilling details of how
his wife had sought to protect her husband, the bullets piercing through her phanek, I
still shudder at the memory of how she and her daughter survived the onslaught.
Also, how and what went through the minds of the men who still continued with
their act. How could they do this? Why did they do this? These questions still
haunt my mind....
A few weeks back I got back home after attending a funeral
service - a funeral of a man that I once knew, perhaps not that well, but a
good man, a kind man, taken some would say too soon before his time.
Life as we know it ends as abruptly. And yet, more than
once at the funeral service I heard, from the words of his son and daughter and
close friends that they would seek to carry on the legacy that he had left
behind. One of commitment, of relationships, of serving those in need.
This week was another reminder, Memorial Day, of those that have fallen, sacrificed their lives in
order that we might live safe, live free, a day to honour the brave men and women
in uniform. Too starkly, days like these remind us that life is fleeting and
frail and in the end it is only the memories that mark the vibrancy of a life
that once was.
So what is my question again? Why do we fight? Why do we
waste these precious moments in petty squabbles and harsher words? Why, when
life is so beautiful do we allow ourselves to be sucked into the mediocrity and
banality of simply existing?
When we are, have been called to live. To cherish each moment, to hold each other a little more
tightly, to lift each other up, through our words and in our deeds. Each day,
each moment then, is a gift that we should unravel and savour to the fullest.
So like the picture says, one day you’ll just be a memory
to some people. Do your best to be a good one….
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