Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Live Today Because Tomorrow May Never Come

26th December will always be a date that many will remember for several years to come. It was two years ago this day that close to 176,000 lives were lost to the tsunami.

No one expected it but when the giant waves came, no warnings were given and many were caught by surprise. Waters swallowed up helpless individuals while there were some who clinged on to anything they could grab hold of.

On that day, many were going through their routines (running their businesses, going to work, fishing out at sea; etc); some were still celebrating Christmas; while there were yet others who were just having fun by the beaches; several were either having their breakfast or still sleeping. Some probably died without even knowing what happened exactly.

From laughter it turned to mourning - families of victims had to collect the bodies of their loved ones; many were and are still waiting for those whose bodies, till today, remain missing.

Today there was a strong earthquake in Taiwan measuring 7.2 on the Richter Scale. A tsunami alert were sent across the region and a 1m high wave is expected to hit The Philippines soon. Nobody knows how many lives have been and will be taken.

Heavy rains poured down on Singapore today; last week heavier downpours were experienced - flooded many places and damaged numerous properties. In Malaysia and Indonesia, lives were lost.

26 December is a day of remembrance for many. It is also a day to remind me not to take my life for granted and to live it as if today was to be my last.

It is ok to plan for my future but over-planning is unrealistic because tomorrow my life may just be taken away.

I guess it is important to learn to thank God when I experience sunrise every morning and sunset every evening. This speaks of His grace and mercy upon my life.

I should also learn to be contented with what I have - if there is rain, thanks be to God; if the weather gets too dry and hot, thanks be to Him too; if I do not own what others have, big deal, praise be to Jesus; if I find my parents or brother or grandmother irritating, praise the Lord! (at least I still have them to irritate me).

Well, I do not know exactly what tomorrow holds - so long as I get to experience today, that is more than enough. Some did not even have the chance to go through today because yesterday was their last.

"And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' "Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?' "This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God." Luke 12:16-21

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