Consider Lily Articles Gallery

Tomorrow Is Promised To No One Where Are You Headed? by Catherine Aubrecht We were still reeling from the shootings at a city council meeting in Kirkwood, MO, when the news broke exactly one week later about the Northern Illinois University shootings. In near perfect replication of the Kirkwood tragedy, 6 lives were lost as 5 students were gunned down before the shooter turned and killed himself. Lightning had struck yet again. Once more we are confronted with the most important issue a human being will ever face — our own mortality. Like taxes, sooner or later death comes to us all and what's on the other side is determined by how we've lived on this side. Among the myriad beliefs of the afterlife, one is that there is absolutely nothing on the other side. What a terrible risk to take. Compare two people's lives — one lives for God, the other for himself. Both die someday. If there is nothing, neither will know it since, well, both are dead and that's all there is to it. However if there is something on the other side, suddenly both will care an awful lot about what happens to them. It's a road worthy of investigation — how much "longer" is eternity than the maybe 80-something years we spend here? I can't help but wonder if the students in the auditorium were at peace with their eternal destinations. It's reasonable to assume not one of them went to class that day thinking it would be their last few hours. Rather, most of us are inclined to plan out our entire lives — or at least the next few hours. Who wants to think about death when papers and parties take so much mindshare? The truth is, not one of us knows when our last hour will be. James 4:14 says "...you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes." Hard words. We so want to be in control of everything, but these days we often have trouble reigning in even our time. It's hard to think of our lives as being so brief, especially in our 20s when we think we're nearly immortal; yet in the big picture that includes eternity, they are short indeed. To put it into perspective, one day in eternity is probably the equivalent of 10,000 lifetimes. Christianity brings with it the unique claim that the deity we worship has "been there" — he's been glad, sad, homeless, poor, betrayed, abandoned, a social outcast, unjustly accused, he was humiliated, he forgave his enemies. Of all the world religions out there, only Christianity has a god who left His royal position in heaven and pierced our reality by becoming human — all to provide the way back to Him by dying on the Cross and rising from the dead three days later. Jesus didn't say "I am A way, A truth ..." He said "I am THE way, THE truth, and THE life." (John 14:6) Each day I wake up I'm grateful for yet another opportunity to live for a cause greater than myself. Being a triathlete, I look at my race wheels and think that at one time God was just one of the spokes — next to my possessions, job, hobbies — with me at the center. I would call on Him only when I needed something — like salting your meal when it doesn't taste the way you want. Today God is at the very center of my life and everything radiates out from there. Looking at life first through God's eyes sure puts things into perspective. I'm no hero though; it's far easier to write these words than it is to live them. Perhaps it's time for all of us to really start thinking about every moment of our lives and where we're headed. Tomorrow is promised to no one.