An elderly man who I cared about very much passed away about ten years ago. He had cancer and during the last few months of his life he was bed-ridden. Once when I was visiting him, he told me he wondered why God designed life so that people grow old and die and at the same time babies are born. And the babies, as they grow, need to go through life experiences and learn the many things that the person who has died spent all those year experiencing and learning. My friend said he wondered why God doesn’t just let people who are already here continue to live and not have more people be born who then have to start from the beginning. I’m sure my friend was feeling sad that he would be leaving his wife of many years, that he would no longer be here to help her and be her companion. And perhaps he was starting to grieve the ending of his life on earth.
Later when I thought about what my elderly friend had said, the thought “It’s the journey that matters” came to me. The creator has created each of us and put us on this earth, and we are given the opportunity to make choices and act on those choices as we live each day. It has been my experience, and I believe the experience of most people, that the right choice in a given situation isn’t always obvious, and we need to try to discern the Creator’s will for us. Sincerely making that effort is also part of the journey, as are realizing when we’ve made a mistake, doing our best to accept challenges, and trusting that the Creator is always with us. By trying to live in this way, each of us will know we tried our best as we’re nearing the end of our earthly journeys.