Life's Vapor

It's been over a week since I've been back here. Hard to believe, but life has been a little hectic lately, and I've had some trying times. I know, it's only been a week.

I have come face to face with life and its fragility this week. I know that the Scripture teach that life is as quick as a vapor - here, then gone in an instant. It's hard to come to that reality, though.

One of my heroes in my life is my Dad. I probably have never told him that. We have a quietly spoken relationship when it comes to the feelings things. We talk a lot - we talk about spirituality, politics, investments, house projects, and sometimes a brief fleeting moment of "what's going on in your life". We rarely agree about politics. He thinks I'm a liberal. He's probably correct compared to him. We agree that spirituality is important, but how to go about it, we tend to be on opposite sides. At the end of the day, though, my dad is my hero. He gives of himself more than anyone I know. He wants to be the "handyman" to the world - and wants to be paid only in thank yous and an occasional cheesecake (very bad for him). My dad isn't always healthy. This week he has not been feeling well. He has had heart problems in the past and sometimes, here's the shocker, he overdoes it. I come from a long line of overachievers. Did I mention that? The culmination of this "not feeling well" was a visit to the emergency room yesterday and being admitted into the hospital. I spent much of last night sitting with him in the emergency room waiting for him to be admitted to the hospital. It's hard for me to see my hero hooked up to machines - machines measuring every breath he takes, every heart beat, every pulse that beats. He will see the doctor this morning and hopefully they will know what is wrong. Even though he appears to be okay, it's a reminder that life can change in an instant - it is but a vapor.

Also this past week a friend of mine died from ovarian cancer. She was my age and was diagnosed only a year ago. She was a delightful person and hard to believe that someone my age could be taken from life. To me, that is scary. It is scary to believe that not everyone dies when they are old. Some die way too young by my standards. Some day with way too much life to live and too much love to give. I'm not God, the Decision Maker in life and death, and it's hard for me to understand the rhyme and reason. Perhaps that's my lesson - stop trying to understand the rhyme and reason and just understand that the Scripture is true - life is a vapor.

What I'm faced with is the reality that I need to evaluate my life and ask what is important to me and make choices based on what is important. The truth is that I will think about this while I'm in the moment facing these realities, but when I'm past this, when I've accepted these things and moved on, I will forget what is important and forget that life is a vapor. As children of the King, we are called to remember that life is a vapor, and each and every day people pass us by without hope. How are we showing them light? How am I showing them that life is a vapor, but beyond life there is so much more? What is important to me? My choices are to decide what is important and pay attention to that or keep on living as though my life is not a vapor. . . It's not an uplifting thought, but it's eye opening.