What Is Life? A Gift, or Right?

Writer’s note: Recently I have been reflecting on what life is and its meaning. So far in 2024, I’ve lost friends and family members which has prompted me to think about life a little more. I hope it does the same for those who will read this.

If someone were to ask another, what is life? How can that person answer it? Abraham Lincoln once said, “In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.” Life can throw us so many challenges. However, we should look at it from the lens of faith.

Many seem to forget that life is a gift that God has given to each of us. We’ve failed to recognize how precious it is. Sometimes I have been guilty of attempting to take it for granted.

The common thing to happen when things do go your way is questioning. For example, when someone dies unexpectedly, it is common for many to ask why he or her.

I remember pondering this every time I lost a relative or someone I knew growing up. Earlier this year, I lost two friends in three months. Both were close in age to me and suddenly. All their friends were shocked. I even remember memories from mutual friends pouring in from sleepovers, outings to go salsa dancing, seeing a football game every given Sunday, and the list goes on.

Christ reminds us, “If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it” (Matthew 10:39). We are called to live a life that is pleasing to him.

God gives us life as a gift. He created us in his image and likeness. He wants us from the moment of conception to natural death to know, love, serve, and imitate him through word, deed, and action.

Fulton Sheen puts it well when he says, “First, go out and help your neighbor. Those who suffer from an anxiety of life do so because they live only for themselves. Their mind, their heart, each has been dammed up and all of the scum of the river of life makes the heart and mind a kind of a garbage heap.”

He continues, “The second way is leave yourself open to experiences and encounters with the Divine, which will come to you from without. I say leave yourself open.”

Let us too find our purpose in life by loving our enemies, friends, and family. We do this by imitating God. ‘

Remember your life is a gift to many. Share it with others.