Just Like That

It was the first Android phone gifted to me by a girlfriend. How I cherished it—for two years. One night I put it on the charger, and the next morning it would not power on. Finally a technician explained that the battery had stopped working.

The phone, which had seemed fine and in good working order the night before, had now died. Just like that. It reminded me of a WhatsApp chat with a friend. “Hey, how is your stomach doing?” I asked. A little while later, a message notification popped up, and I reopened the chat and received the shock of my life. “Hi, this is his nephew. Sadly, he died suddenly yesterday afternoon.” Immediately I was plunged into waves of grief, denial, anger, and depression. My heart sank to such a depth of sadness. My friend was gone.

Just like that. He was a very good friend, one to whom I could speak about anything under the sun. We loved to exchange funny videos and jokes.

In reviewing our chat history, I noticed the last message he sent me was just the day before. I struggled to believe that someone I had literally just spoken to and joked with was gone. Just like that. We never get used to the suddenness with which life can change or be taken away. Even news of the unexpected deaths of people we do not know closely shocks and saddens us. James 4:14 reminds us that life is like a vapor, and in his play Hamlet, Shakespeare describes man as “the quintessence of dust.”* Nothing in life is guaranteed.

Like my phone, many people seem fine but go to bed and never wake up. The battery of their heart dies. Just like that. This is why we must make the very best of each day and live our lives for God. Psalm 90:12 cautions us to “number our days,” consider the brevity of life, and live wisely. As I reviewed further conversations I had with my friend, I noticed where he advised me “to enjoy every moment. Never live with rage, anger, hatred, regret, or anything that interferes with enjoying every moment granted to you by the Good Lord. Life is best lived by the enjoyment of every moment.” I will apply my heart to this wisdom: Life is but a mist, so I will choose to live for God and enjoy every moment.

My prayer is for all of us to do the same.

Judelia Medard-Santiesteban

* William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (London: Blackie and Son, 1902), 60, act 2, scene 2, line 308.