Life is so transitory… so uncertain

By Willie Jose
December 29, 2015



“Life is so transitory. People come and go in your life. You feel bad. But you move on, just as they would/ should. May they find their rightful places soon.”

A good friend, journalist Rose dela Cruz, has written the above quote on her Facebook account which I chanced on reading while I was browsing Facebook on a cold morning in Toronto a few days ago.

 As it struck me hard, knowing fully well the truism of her words, I momentarily paused and began to think about the many people in my life whom I’ve lost contact with—some friends and close friends whose whereabouts are either unknown or hard to find.

Yes, life is not only transitory but more importantly, life is also very uncertain—our friends who are with us today, they might be gone tomorrow. It’s a reality that we cannot deny -- people come and go with our life.

We’ve lost some of them, they've moved on just like the rest of us--moving on with life.

People’s coming and going is the ebb and flow of life; people change, circumstances change, priorities change.

But let me share with you, my friends, this spiritual gem from God’s Word which we can all reflect on, it says, “Better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting, for that is the end of every man, and the living should take it to heart,” (Ecclesiastes. 7:2),  Attending an internment is a reminder to us that we’ll meet the same eventuality—our own death—so  now is the time to do something about life before we leave this world.

So, rather than wasting our life pursuing wealth and fame which are temporary, surely   we’ll all leave these things behind us when we die—why not think about the shortness of life and live it in a meaningful way so that when we die, we can all look forward to the day when our Almighty Creator Jehovah God will resurrect us and give us a chance to live again in this Paradise Earth (Ps.37:29 ).

Last night while I was flipping through my old telephone directory—lots of memories flashed on my mind.

This phone directory is an old one, some of its brownish pages are already torn apart. And quite a number of people on the list have already passed away. But I’m also  happy knowing  that  most of them are  still very much alive and kicking, so to speak,  thus making waves  in their chosen careers. A number of them are my former news sources, close friends, officemates, colleagues in the media, college classmates/batchmates, relatives and neighbors.

However, I’ve never heard of anything about the rest of them. With the prevailing  economic condition back home, I could not help but be worried  about what might have happened to them—hopefully, they are all OK and  doing fine too. The other night, I tried to search for them on Facebook, but still there was nothing there.

 I’ve been asking myself where are these people now. And even if their names and telephone numbers are listed on my directory, I don’t have any idea where and when I’ve met them; maybe it comes with my age and that’s why I have difficulty remembering them.

It’s really amazing, with today’s technology-- Facebook, Yahoo, Gmail, Skype, Hotmail— finding friends is a cinch. With just one click, some of our friends’ names and photos will suddenly appear on the computer’s screen; seeing them again brings immense joy. We are also glad to learn that they have become successful in their careers and family life—oh, what a delight to see them on their photos with their happy families, embracing grown children; they are certainly enjoying life’s blessings

One time, I was trying to look for one name on Facebook, but when it showed a number of young faces, I immediately knew they were not the ones I was looking for.

 I even googled their names on the internet but to no avail. I had the urge to contact some of them by phone, and what hindered me was their 6-digit phone numbers-- and I had this feeling that they might have already changed those numbers.

 However, a closer look at this little phone book tells me how time flies so fast.

Times have changed with rapidity. Nothing is permanent in this world.

Yes, it’s true people come and go; we are all conscious of the fact that the things we do now will soon be part of our treasured memories. Meanwhile, we all have to move on, and to say it tritely, we have to try our best to find our rightful place in the sun.

There are many things we would want to do in this life, there are many goals we would  like to achieve for ourselves-- things we loved so much  when we were still young but with the onset of old age, things  have changed; there are  different rules to follow.

As they would  say, the mind is willing but the flesh is weak; we want to see our friends more often, but there are many things we have to overcome now before we could even decide to do that.

For some of us living abroad particularly those who have already retired from work, we have to ask ourselves if we have enough funds for travelling? Do we have the physical stamina to bear the rigors of long hours of travelling by plane? Do we feel healthy enough not to worry about anything even if we take along with us our tons of medication?

Oh, my friends, how I wish we were still young!