When I arrived in France as an exchange student, I learnt of the death of a close friend and brother. I shared this news with my host. She asked about his age and the cause of death. I explained that he had died from a short illness at the age of 25.
She made a profound statement that I have never forgotten. She said that the life expectancy across Europe is quite high and people do not usually die that easily from curable diseases because “on a maitrisé la mort” which translates us “we have mastered death”. Of course to master something means becoming good at it. That is not the case here. She meant that they had mastered the art of keeping off death for as long as possible.
How has man generally been able to ward off the tango with death…?
How have they done this? How has man generally been able to ward off the tango with death till now. Well, research, new technology, sophisticated medicines have helped increase lifectancy. Diseases that were incurable or terminal now have cures or at least different ways of managing it. People living HIV can now live a normal life with antiretrovural drugs. Cancer patients have chemotherapy despite its side effects. Maternal mortality is not such a thing in Europe, hygiene and other safety precautions ate generally taken seriously.
And of course, generally, hospitals are better equipped with machines and facilities, highly qualified and trained health professionals to handle complicated and life-threatening cases.
Indeed, “on a maitrisé la mort”.
Have we mastered life?
With this mastering of the art of dancing with death before it finally floors us, have we been successful at the art of living? Have we mastered life?
Have we learnt the art of loving our neighbour and being his/her keeper?
How about learning to accept our flaws while still working to improve? It is said that you can be a masterpiece and a work in progress at the same time. How many of us see that about ourselves?
How determined are we to accept the things we cannot change and live in authenticity instead of living only to impress others?
Is honest and ethical work still honourable in our eyes?
How about the opinions of men that we have allowed to define us such that we are literally crippled.
What about our addictions to all manner of things – sex, pornography, social media, alcohol…
So that we “cheat” physical death but are never free to live life. The death we have mastered becomes only a temporal management which never leads to abundance of life even if we were to live 2 centuries.
Constantly plagued with worries, strife, comparison that leads to needless competition and chasing after the ever-elusive and too slippery shadow called happiness.
High suicide rates, depression and a lack of a sense of fulfillment and dissatisfaction with our lives becomes the norm for many.
…chasing after the ever-elusive and too slippery shadow called happiness.
Really, can life too be mastered? And if yes, how?
For me, the answer is simple. The price it takes to master death, it seems to me, to be costlier than it takes to master life.
The simplicity of mastering life is Jesus. He is the answer to mastering life. “I have come that they (you) may have life and have it more abundantly”. (John 10:10)
“I am the way the truth and the life…”(John 14:6)
Knowing Jesus is our only guarantee to mastering life.
To master death only to fail at life is a tragedy. He is the antidote to eternal corruption for whoever lives in Him truly finds life and whoever dies in Him rises to life eternal, life incorruptible.
Come to Jesus! He is willing to take you by the hand.
He guarantees abundant life!
